Free Fall
by tvfan69
Summary: "She's not gonna make it," what if Zuko was right? At the beginning of The Southern Raiders, Azula falls from her blimp but saves herself, but what if she didn't? What if she couldn't hold on? Can team avatar handle holding Azula captive with the comet fast approaching? Will Zuko notice that his sister is unraveling? Could Azula have been saved, before she fell?
1. Chapter 1

"She's not gonna make it," Zuko said, just moments ago they had all been sleeping peacefully in their temporary home at The Western Air Temple until they were woken by Azula attacking from her airship. Now the group had been split and Zuko was among those who were fleeing on Appa, watching as his sister fell.

He watched as she propelled herself towards the Cliffside, with baited breath and a frozen heart, she may be pure evil but at the end of the day it's still his baby sister he's watching. She pulled her pin from her hair and dug it into the rocks, and for a moment Zuko thought it would work. But the force of gravity was too much and knocked the pin clean out of Azula's hand, and she fell.

"Aang," Zuko found himself saying, he didn't mean to say it, nor did he mean to sound like he wanted to save her. But before he could protest Aang was giving him a nod and Appa was diving down.

"What are we doing!?" Toph demanded to know; clearly the bison's sudden dive took her off guard.

"We're saving Azula" Aang answered and before anyone could argue his actions Azula landed with a thud on the saddle.

No one had time to say anything, not even Azula, before she fell over unconscious revealing that Sokka had knocked her out with his club.

"Sokka!" Katara scolded

"What? If she's awake then she'll fry us!" The non-bender exclaimed

"Sokka's right, besides if we have her then we need to figure out what to do with her before she wakes up." Zuko said

"Did we just take a prisoner?" Suki questioned and the others all glanced around at each other.

"Yeah, I think we did." Aang responded.

* * *

"This is crazy!" Sokka exclaimed, the group had just landed on cliff out in the middle of nowhere, and if the situation at hand weren't so dire Katara or Suki may have commented on how beautiful it was. But the situation didn't allow for that.

Azula was still unconscious and by now her wrists had been tied behind her back, her ankles also tied together.

"You're telling me, what were we thinking?" Zuko exclaimed as he dragged his sister's body down from the saddle.

"We were thinking we couldn't let her fall to her death," Aang said

"Why not? She's tried to kill us enough times." Sokka pointed out

"Sokka," Suki scolded

"What? Do you have any idea how much easier our lives would be without her chasing us!" The eccentric non-bender exclaimed.

"Well she's not chasing us if we've captured her," Toph pointed out

"So we're just going to keep her around? What one homicidal fire-bender isn't enough for you people?" Katara snapped

"Hey, I'm right here!" Zuko snapped back, he's been trying to have patients with Katara. He understands why she hates him, he really does, but sometimes he just can't take it.

"Alright enough!" Aang intervened, "I don't like the idea of holding Azula captive anymore than you do, but she's too dangerous to let go so we don't have another option." He continued

 _We could kill her,_ Zuko kept his thoughts silent and confined to his own head. He would never say those words aloud. He told himself it's because doing so would only be waste of breath, Aang's in charge of these decisions and would never agree to it. But really, a part of him knows that there's another reason. He doesn't want to say those words out loud, doesn't want to hear the murder in his voice. He doesn't want hear himself, supposedly reformed, openly and knowingly suggest cold-blooded murder as a way of solving the problem that is his own sister.

"But what are we going to keep her in? Ropes?" Sokka demanded, "She'll burn right through them!" He continued.

For a minute it was silent, all of them fully aware that Sokka is right and trying to think of a solution.

"I've got an idea," Suki finally spoke up. "A few years ago there was an outbreak on Kyoshi Island of Buzzard-Ants, if they bite you they release a toxin into your system that among other things causes severe muscle spasms. Our village healer made something to cause temporary paralyses to stop people from hurting themselves and as a side effect it caused temporary loss of bending, maybe I can use some of the herbs here to mimic the serum." She suggested and Aang nodded in response; that sounded to be as good a plan as any.

* * *

When Azula finally opened her eyes she noticed two things, she had no idea where she was and she couldn't move. Initially she thought she might be dead, but then she remembered Zuko and his little band of misfits saving her before knocking her unconscious.

 _Great,_ she thought to herself, _just what I need, captured by Zuzu and his little pals._

Again she tried to move but again her limbs failed her, had she been chi-block? That was doubtful, considering Ty Lee is currently rotting away in a cell for her betrayal and she was certain that neither Zuko nor any of his friends know the technique. Besides, this didn't feel like chi blocking. Chi blocking was more of a limp feeling, like your body is made of very thin jelly. This feeling was more of an excruciating numbness. The fall hadn't paralyzed her had it, or maybe broken every bone in her body? The latter was doubtful, as she was assuming something like that would be a lot more painful. She considered screaming, but quickly pushed that thought aside. She was better than that; she had more self-respect than to scream out like a scared little girl, so she would wait. What exactly she was waiting for Azula had no idea, most likely she was waiting for a person because judging by the cloth material surrounding her she figured she was in a tent, so she was probably still with Zuko and his idiotic friends.

She began to listen carefully, and she noticed that off in the distance she could hear voices. She heard laughter and quiet talking, various voices belonging to her brother and his friends. Something about old times, and then she heard the Water Tribe boy.

"To Zuko, who knew after all those time he tried to snuff us out today he'd be our hero?" It sounded like a toast, and Azula couldn't help but scoff at the stupidity of it.

"Here, here." The other voices chorused; she then heard her brother say something, though the words were too quiet to make out from however far away she was.

 _Probably gloating,_ the captured princess thought to herself. Then, suddenly, it became quiet.

"What's with her?" The Water Tribe boy asked, breaking the silence outside.

 _What's with who?_ Azula wondered, suddenly very interested in whatever was happening outside.

* * *

"What's with him?" Zuko heard Sokka question as he followed Katara away from the fire.

She had stormed off; her face had been set in a permanent scowl all throughout dinner, the way it was just about every time she looked at him. Then Sokka had been nice enough to make that toast, something Zuko knew he didn't deserve but at the same time felt as though he had earned, and then Katara ruined it.

"Yeah, no kidding." She had said, her voice cold as the water she bends and as venomous as a shirshu's tongue. Every time he thinks he's getting somewhere, every time he thinks he's improving his morality, there she is. She's always right there to remind him of all the horrible things he's done, that he turned his back on people and that he's done terrible things to good people. She can't let him have even a second of pride in himself, no matter what he's done to earn it, and he's sick of it.

He knew she'd need time and a good amount of space, and he's tried to be patient with her. But tonight, tonight something was different. Tonight, when she spat at him, he knew that she was out of line. She'd had the right, for weeks now, to treat him like dirt and to belittle him. She'd had the right to make his life miserable, and although she never did he would've even tolerated her tampering with his food or personal belongings. But tonight crossed a line, he's earned the trust and respect of all the others, and it wasn't that he hadn't earned hers that bothered him, it was that for once when she berated him it was uncalled for. So he followed her, and found her standing alone over the water, still fuming.

"This isn't fair," he said to her. He didn't shout it, didn't plead with her, he just said it, because it's a fact. "Everyone else seems to trust me now, what is it with you?" He asked, ok maybe he was bothered by her lack of trust.

"Oh everyone trusts you now? I was the first person to trust you, remember? Back in Ba Sing Se, and you turned around and betrayed me. Betrayed all of us. And now you've brought Azula into this!" She accused.

The expression on his face was nothing but guilt, and he wanted to shout that he didn't have a choice when it came to Azula, but he wouldn't. He took a breath and remained calm.

"I'm sorry about Azula, I don't want her here anymore than you do. But she's my sister, I couldn't let her die." He explained and Katara looked away with angry, narrowed eyes. But she had no argument for that. "As for Ba Sing Se, what can I do to make it up to you?" He asked her sincerely, though she seemed to think it was a joke.

"Hm, you really want to know?" She began in a sarcastic voice as she marched towards him, "maybe you could re-conquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the earth king, or I know, bring my mother back!" She shouted in his face, making sure to bump his shoulder as she walked away from him.

* * *

"Finally, it's about time someone came in here." Azula's taunting voice rang in her older brother's ears after he'd spoken with Sokka and returned to his own tent, which unfortunately also housed his sister.

Without a word he began shoving some supplies into his bag, he didn't have time to deal with Azula right now.

"Fine ignore me, but could you at least enlighten me on why I can't move?" She more demanded than asked.

"Some kind of serum Suki made, we knew you could escape ropes." Zuko muttered without even glancing over his shoulder at her.

Azula nodded her head thoughtfully, though there really wasn't much to think about. "And I'm assuming she's going to give me more of it before it wears off?" She guessed and in response Zuko gave a barely audible grunt and nod of the head. "What's wrong Zuzu? You seem even grumpier than usual," she commented as her brother slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the tent.

"Not your business," he grumbled as he left.

Zuko didn't return that night, and it gave Azula a lot of time to wonder. She'd always been able to read him, always been one step ahead, but this was different. He didn't give one hint, not one, as to where he was going.

 _Maybe they're moving on,_ she thought to herself, _maybe they're just leaving me here for dead._ "It would be the perfect revenge," she said to herself, "Paralyze me and then leave me here alone to die." She felt tears pricking at the edges of her eyes and tried to blink them away, she couldn't dare cry and risk one of Zuko's little pals, or Zuko himself for that matter, hearing. She wanted to wipe away her tears, but with no use of her arms that was quite impossible. So she soon found herself lying there on the ground, her mouth open but no noise escaping it, as she sobbed silently.

* * *

When morning came Azula realized that she must have fallen asleep at some point during the night, as her eyes were opening to the light of the new day. She tried to move but found that she still could not do more than lift her head, and so she let out a groan as she slammed it back into the hard ground beneath her.

"Someone's up," she heard a voice comment from the outside, fairly certain it belonged to the little blind girl. Less than a minute later Zuko was back in the tent, and judging by the bags under his eyes he didn't spend the night sleeping.

He threw a roll at her, hitting her in the face with it.

"Watch it!" She growled but Zuko didn't say a word, "I don't suppose you imbeciles have thought of what to do when I have to go to the bathroom?" She questioned before Zuko could leave the tent.

"The paralysis will start to wear off after twenty-four hours, but you'll be weak. I've seen you hold it that long, you can go to the bathroom before Suki gives you a second dose." He answered with his back still turned to her.

"You forget Zuzu, that was one rare occasion." Azula mocked, although truthfully she knew she probably could hold her bladder that amount of time if she really wanted to.

But suddenly, Zuko turned around as if enraged and snapped his sister from her thoughts.

"Then pee your pants!" He shouted at her before trudging out of the tent, Azula smirked when she heard the Water Tribe boy.

"Uh, did I just hear you telling Azula to-?"

"Don't ask," Zuko cut him off with a sigh.

* * *

Experimentally, purely to see if Zuko would keep his word or not, Azula did in fact hold her bladder until later that night and much to her surprise her brother did come in and help her to her feet. Of course he handed her right over to Suki, apparently it was necessary that Azula have an escort to the bush the group had deemed as a bathroom. Suki had eyed her curiously, and if Azula didn't know any better, she'd say even sympathetically the whole walk there. She was shaking, her legs visibly trembling, as she put all her effort into walking.

Apparently Azula actually didn't know better, because Suki really did feel bad for the princess. She'd taken the serum before; she was one of the many ill during the Buzzard-Ant outbreak. She remembered all too well how helpless she felt, and how awful that was. But that was nothing compared to the serum wearing off; when your legs are so weak that they can barely support you, no matter how large or small your frame is. She remembers constantly leaning on a chair or a table, just anything she could get a grip on to keep herself upright. Azula was stumbling, tripping over her own feet and barely managing to keep from falling, and on the way back to the camp Suki couldn't watch her suffer like this anymore. So she reached out an arm to help but Azula responded by swatting her away and as a result falling down.

"What are you doing?" The raven-haired girl demanded.

"Trying to help you," Suki responded, holding out a hand to help the fallen girl up.

"I don't need help," Azula growled, trying to get to her feet on her own but just falling back on her face.

"Yes, you do." Suki deadpanned, still offering her hand.

Azula growled but still to the hand grudgingly, and continued to frown as the Kyoshi Warrior placed her arm along her shoulders, allowing the princess to lean on her.

When the two made it back to the camp there appeared to be something out of the ordinary going on, if Zuko and Katara dressed in full on ninja grab was any indication.

"What's going on?" Suki questioned Sokka, who along with Aang had just watched Zuko and Katara fly off.

"Katara and Zuko just went off on a field to find and hopefully not kill the man who murdered mine and Katara's mother-" he answered and then noticed Azula and let out a sigh. "And yet, somehow, left us with someone worse." He finished, Azula just glared at him.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn't long before Azula found herself forced to swallow a mouthful of a repulsive brown, paste like, substance despite how hard she fought against the Kyoshi Warrior giving it to her. She was then dragged back into her brother's tent, and she knew he wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.

"I'd fall asleep quickly if I were you, it isn't very pleasant to slowly feel your muscles stop working." Suki advised coldly before she left the tent.

But of course Azula didn't fall asleep quickly, she couldn't. Instead she lay awake throughout the long hours of the night, alone with her thoughts. She began to wonder, would father attack the Earth Kingdom without her? It had been her idea, without her he wouldn't even be attacking. But still, at least a small part of her subconscious knew that her absence would have no effect on him invading the Earth Kingdom, and that drove her mad. _It isn't fair! He can't invade without her! It's her plan! Her idea! If he does it alone then that's it!_ She thought to herself, if he does this along then that means that she'll have failed him as a daughter.

"No," Azula whispered to herself, "I won't fail father, I'll get out of here." She quietly assured herself, though she was failing to see how she would do that with no use of her arms and legs.

 _I'll find a way,_ she thought to herself. So with that thought in mind she put herself to sleep, thinking of all the different ways she could free herself from this predicament. Eventually, just before she dozed off, she decided on one.

Trust.

* * *

"You're worried," Suki observed as she entered Sokka's tent. The boy in question was lying on top of his sleeping bag, his arm serving as a pillow despite the fact that he has a real one, and staring up at the 'ceiling' of his tent.

"Of course I'm worried," He said as his girlfriend came and lay down beside him. "I know Katara's hurt but… she was my mother too." He trailed off and despite her head being right next to his, Suki still barely heard that last part.

"Sokka," she sighed, "Katara's just upset, don't let what she said earlier get to you." She said, she had heard Katara's comment about how Sokka didn't love their mother the way she did, and she knew the words had hurt him.

"I'm not, besides she was right in a way." Sokka glumly admitted, this prompted Suki to sit up and look down at him in confusion. With a sigh Sokka also sat up, pulling his knees to his chest as he did so. "I did love our mom the way she did, but I don't miss her the way she does." He confessed; Suki's expression was still quizzical.

"I don't understand," she said and again Sokka sighed.

"When our mom died, Katara is the one who took her place. The thing is, she was only eight years old. She took on everything mom ever did for us. Sure Gran Gran was a big help but after a year, it was mostly Katara doing everything. The day our mom died, so did Katara's childhood. She had to grow up so fast and I think that on some level she's mad about that. Yeah I hate the man who killed my mother, but he didn't do to me what he did to Katara, he didn't steal my innocence." He admitted; his voice taking on such a serious and heavy tone that it was slightly concerning to Suki. Very rarely did she ever see her boyfriend like this, so serious and so unlike his usual hyperactive self.

"I always knew Katara was motherly but I guess I never realized why," she finally decided to say, Sokka shrugged in response.

"It took me awhile to put together too, I'm not really sure how much Katara realizes it herself." He said before lying back down with a loud yawn, "whatever, time to go to sleep." He announced; at first Suki just watched him, wondering how it was possible for him to just snap back to his usual demeanor like that. But eventually she found herself lying down beside him, resting her head on his chest and closing her eyes as he wound his arm gently around her waist.

* * *

Meanwhile in the Fire Nation capital, despite the late hour, a messenger was hurrying into Fire Lord Ozai's throne room. To say that the servant in question was a little nervous would be the understatement of the year. Not only was the day drawing to a close, and he doubted that the Fire Lord enjoyed late night messages, but this message wasn't exactly one of the pleasant variety. Therefor he considered it to be all too soon that he found himself kneeling before his lord, the hot flames of the room mixed with his nerves causing little beads of sweat to drip down his face.

"You don't look well Aki, what troubles you?" The Fire Lord inquired as he beckoned for his messenger to rise.

With trembling legs Aki stood up straight, and tried not to be intimidated by the man before him.

"A message arrived from the, The Boiling Rock. It appears that there was in fact a prison break involving the former prince, as well as three other prisoners and one of the avatar's friends posing as a guard. Princess Azula pursued them but it was reported that she was captured by the avatar." He stammered, when the Fire Lord scowled Aki was sure that he was done for, but instead of acting with anger the Fire Lord only sighed.

"Why are my children such incapable failures?" He asked, rhetorically of course. "Add the abduction of the princess to Zuko's charges." He ordered almost carelessly.

Aki nodded, although internally he was wondering how the Fire Lord could simply dismiss his daughter's kidnapping by the Fire Nation's only real threat. Regardless he scurried out of the chamber once the Fire Lord let him go, after all there is still much work to be done in preparation for the destruction of the Earth Kingdom.

* * *

When Azula awoke the next morning it wasn't long before the unfortunately familiar feeling of a roll bouncing against her skull greeted her, only this time it wasn't Zuko who threw it. She couldn't tell who it was, they were standing outside of the tent and she could only see so far in front of her with only the use of her neck. But whoever it was she needed their attention.

"Whoever's out there could you please come here?" She asked, well more like pleaded.

To be honest she had expected Suki to be the one to walk in, it did seem that with Zuko gone she was the one being trusted to keep an eye on the princess, since she had been the one to poison her and escort her to the bathroom when she was allowed to go. But instead she found herself staring at the little earth bender.

"You have impressive aim for someone who can't see where she's throwing," she said, making the words sound as demeaning as possible of course.

"I can see you." The girl spat and Azula just rolled her eyes.

"Ah yes, you use your bending right?" She asked, giving a very satisfied smirk when the younger girl growled at her.

"Who told you about that?" She demanded

"No one, I figured it out. It's something that determines a prodigy, when you are able to connect to your element and use every aspect of it." She said it darkly, as if she meant to make the young bender fear her abilities.

The earth bender scowled at her, as if trying to block out her words.

"Is there a reason you asked me to come in here?" She spat,

"Actually yes. I was wondering, since I'm being forced to lie in one place all day, if I could at least be outside?" She requested, "I'm going crazy staring at the top of Zuko's tent all day." She continued but Toph just smirked.

"Keep in mind princess, I'll drag you outside but there's a good chance I'll leave you staring into the sun. Now being blind isn't a problem for me, but for you…" she trailed off, knowing that should Azula go blind she wouldn't be able to use her bending as a form of sight.

Azula simply growled at the girl, "Oh come on, it's not like I can hurt anyone." She continued to pester but again Toph smirked with amusement, clearly enjoying being able to be the one who ruined things for Azula.

"Sorry princess, but you're staying in here." She said and with that she turned and exited the tent.

With her gone Azula groaned and tried to tell her herself that she just needs to have patience. Getting these misfits to trust her is not going to be easy, but it is going to be worth it.

She had no idea how many hours passed that day, but she did know that it was still nowhere near nightfall when she reached her tolerance level for staying in the stupid tent and only listening to the conversations of the people outside.

"Can someone please let me out of this tent?!" She called to the outside, at first it seemed as though nobody had bothered to listen but then, just as she was going to shout again, the Water Tribe boy and the avatar came and stood over her.

"Give us one good reason we should let you come outside," the avatar demanded.

"I personally like Toph's idea of leaving her where she's forced to stare into the sun," Sokka put in, he had spoken with Toph earlier after her encounter with Azula and found the threat she made to be very clever.

Aang sent Sokka a look, one that said _I don't care that she's evil, blinding her is inhumane,_ before he directed his attention back to the princess in question.

"Well for one it would be easier for you to monitor me, so really I'm helping you." She claimed but the expressions that each of the boys wore remained unamused.

"Nice try Azula," Sokka said, Azula rolled her eyes.

"You've completely paralyzed me, what can I do out there that I can't do in here?" She demanded, Aang and Sokka exchanged glances.

"She does have a point," Aang admitted but Sokka shook his head.

"Don't fall for it Aang, she probably has some kind of trick all planned out." He warned, "Why else would she ask us to bring her outside?" He finished and Azula again rolled her eyes.

"How about because I'm sick of staring at the roof of this stupid tent and just want a change of scenery?" She suggested, Sokka folded his arms and leaned over her, making sure to get in her face.

"Oh you want a change of scenery?" He sarcastically asked, "How does the bottom of the ocean sound?" He asked and this time Azula was having trouble telling if he was joking or not.

"Enough Sokka," Aang said, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder and pulling him back up.

"I don't think a change of scenery is going to kill anyone, and she can't do anything when she's paralyzed like this. I don't see the harm in letting her spend a couple of hours outside." He said and while Azula smirked in victory Sokka just began grumbling, he then seized one of her ankles and dragged her outside.

He walked out of the tent, pulling Azula behind him by her left foot as if she were a rag doll, and then left her lying by the fire pit where they ate at night before he walked off to continue his grumblings.

"Is this what we're burning tonight?" Toph asked from a few feet away, Aang just came shaking his head.

* * *

Azula lay there the rest of the day, mostly just making snide comments at the expense of the others. She also observed what she could about their habits as best she could from her current position. She noticed that the avatar spent a considerable amount of time off behind some large boulders practicing his fire bending, as if he could actually become good enough to defeat her father. She also noticed that Sokka never left Suki's side, only confirming her suspicions she'd had since she first captured the warrior that the two of them were a couple. As for the little earth bender girl, she didn't do much of anything throughout the day. She sat there, picked at her feet, and bent some earth rings for that lemur creature to jump through.

"Assuming you survive my father taking full control of the world, you and that creature could always get a job in a circus." Azula mocked but the earth bender didn't even turn her head.

"You worry about your survival and I'll worry about mine," she said

"I think I'll be fine," Azula said but Toph smirked.

"Says the girl who can't move," she teased.

Azula wanted to make a comeback, but she had none. Toph was right. She needs to act and she needs to act fast, she needs to get them to trust her as soon as possible, because she doesn't have the time to sit around waiting for the perfect moment to strike. If she wants to stand any chance at marching into battle by her father's side the way she is destined to, then she can't afford to waste even a second.

"Fair point," she decided to admit, strategically of course. "But if you think that just the six of you stand a chance against the Fire Lord, and especially with Sozin's comet coming up, you're even dumber than I thought. Which I should probably tell you is really saying something." She continued and Toph frowned, then got up from her seat on the ground and marched over to the incapacitated princess.

"Listen princess I don't know what kid of mind games it is that you think you're playing, but they aren't going to work." She snapped before marching off.

Azula frowned, in fact she almost snarled, at the earth bender's retreating form.

"I'm not playing games!" She all but shouted after Toph, who stopped for a second, then kept moving.

* * *

Later on that evening, after the sun had set and the group was eating dinner, the image of Appa appeared overhead. Azula, though she had already been taken for her bathroom break and given her nightly dose of what she considered to be poison, was still outside and only lying slightly farther away from the fire pit than where she had spent the majority of the day. She watched as the others in the group stood up solemnly, as if the bison was carrying the possibility of terrible news. Personally she didn't see what would be so bad about murdering the man who had apparently killed the mother of the two water tribe peasants; if she could ever get her hands on her own mother and take revenge for deserting her, she'd do it in a heartbeat.

"Where's Katara?" The avatar asked in concern as Zuko, and only Zuko, dismounted the bison.

"She wanted to be alone, I dropped her off at our next stop a few hours ago, Appa took a nap. We should make it there by morning if we leave now." He explained, tiredly rubbing some sleep from his eye with the heel of his hand. The bison may have slept, but it was all too obvious that he hadn't.

"Next stop?" Aang questioned as his friend and teacher walked past him, "Where are we going?" He continued.

Zuko had just reached his sister when Aang voiced his question, and when he looked down at her she scowled back up at him.

"Some place depressing." He replied, and from the way his eyes never left hers Azula was able to determine exactly where this 'next stop' was.


	3. Chapter 3

Azula supposed that she should be grateful her brother propped her up against the side of the saddle, allowing her to sit and look at something other than the sky above her if she so chose to. After telling Aang where they were going and offering to steer, an offer that the avatar declined because Zuko looked like he was about to fall asleep standing up, they loaded their belongings onto the saddle and took off.

Zuko sat up against the rim of the saddle right behind the bison's head, and although it was clear that he wanted to fall asleep instantly it was equally clear that many unspoken thoughts were keeping him up. Azula locked eyes with him a few times, but be it out of spite or something else she refused to talk with him. The two fire siblings did, however, have one wordless conversation using only their eyes.

 _Go to sleep,_ Zuko's eyes flashed.

 _Make me,_ Azula challenged before adding; _you go to sleep!_

 _I'm trying,_ Zuko shot back and with that Azula rolled her eyes to end the argument before turning her head.

She didn't see it, obviously since she was no longer looking at Zuko, but his thoughts turned to her after that. The argument had been silent, not a word was spoken, and yet somehow they had known everything the other was saying. It had been so long since they'd spoken like that, be it fighting or plotting to get into mischief, they had been so young the last time they talked with just their eyes. As Zuko thought on it, he determined that their ages had probably been around six and four.

 _Ten years ago,_ he thought to himself. With that thought he finally fell asleep, actually happy with this barely recognizable glimpse into old, old times between him and Azula.

As the night went on Azula never fell asleep. Toph was out almost immediately, though Azula figured that she probably couldn't see anything up in the air so it's not like she has any reason to stay awake. Sokka was sitting across from the group's prisoner, his girlfriend asleep with her head on his shoulder. He tried not to make conversation, or eye contact for that matter, with Azula but in the dead of night with who knows how many hours left to go in the silence some things are just unavoidable.

"So, um… what's up?" He asked awkwardly.

"Oh nothing much, just being kidnapped and held against my will." Azula responded.

"Hey, we saved your life." Sokka quickly pointed out, Azula only rolled her eyes.

"Yes, and now I can't move, I'm miles away from home, and I'm only allowed to go to the bathroom once a day." She countered, although truthfully she was still surprised that her life had been saved and was still trying to determine why they would do such a thing. _Probably have some kind of plan,_ she thought to herself.

"To be fair you technically could go more than once a day but that would involve one of the girls helping you and I don't think-"

"Pass," Azula cut him off, she didn't want to hear him finish. She didn't want there to be even the slightest suggestion that she was weak. She is not a child; she doesn't need a babysitter.

A few more moments passed in silence between the two, before Azula finally broke it with one question that had been gnawing at her since the previous night.

"Why were you hoping your sister would show mercy to the man who killed your mother?" She asked.

At first Sokka didn't know how to respond to the question. The way Azula asked it so seriously, without an ounce of teasing in her voice, like she really wanted to know the answer, caught him off guard.

"Because, you know, murder is wrong." He said, not really comfortable telling her all that he had told Suki. But when she didn't seem to buy it he frowned, "or I guess you wouldn't know that, I forgot who I was talking to." He said, and maybe he said it just a little too coldly, but he hardly regretted it.

Azula looked away, narrowing her eyes at his comment.

"He murdered your mother, an eye for an eye." She responded but Sokka frowned.

"Look, I'm never going to forgive him and I'm never going to understand why he killed her. But that doesn't mean killing him would make it right," He said and Azula rolled her eyes.

"Suit yourself," she said in a quiet singsong voice, Sokka just shook his head in annoyance.

"You know you seem to support the idea of revenge an awful lot for someone who probably has a lot of people looking to take it on her," He argued and at that Azula glared at him, although her look was more annoyed than anything else.

"Let the record show, icicle boy, that I have never actually taken a life. Not to say that I wouldn't if it was necessary, but anyone looking to take revenge on me is not doing it to avenge a loved one." She pointed out.

"Alright fine, so you've never actually killed. But you have hurt people. You manipulate them and use them in order to get what you want, and I'm willing to bet that's a good way to make enemies." Sokka said and Azula couldn't help but frown, true as every word of that may be he still has no right to say it.

"You don't know anything about me Sokka," she spat at him, his name coming off her lips like an insult.

"I know you've been trying to kill me for the past, like, six months! Oh and for the record you have killed, you shot Aang with lightning and he was dead until Katara managed to bring him back!" The Water Tribe boy exclaimed and Azula thought on this for a moment, she had wondered how it was possible the avatar survived her attack. "You think I don't know you?" He continued incredulously, "I know enough," he ended and with that Azula turned her head away, opting to stare over the side of the saddle as she contemplated what she would do to Sokka if she had use of her limbs.

* * *

They reached their destination just as the sun was coming up and descended right behind the dock.

"Katara!" Aang shouted in concern, leaping off the barely landed bison when he saw his best friend sitting alone at the edge of the broken dock, dangling her feet above the shallow water below.

Zuko, who had woken up not long before landing, crawled across the saddle and silently maneuvered Azula over his shoulder. She also made no sound, she just silently put up with it and waited to speak until after her brother's feet had reached the ground and he adjusted her to carry her bridal style.

"Please don't tell me we're going to be here long," she whined but Zuko only huffed in response.

He carried her up to the house, and judging by the looks of the place he had already been inside earlier when he dropped Katara off. As he walked with her through the front entrance, which she noticed last time they were here was interestingly broken and that was probably due to Zuko, and up the stairs, into the large hallway where their family portrait used to be; she couldn't help but remember all the good times they'd had here. She remembered mother fiddling with that portrait they burned, spending hours not only trying to find a good place for it, but once she found a place trying to get it to stay. She remembered running and chasing Zuko around the large hallway, and then being reprimanded by her mother when she pushed him down the stairs.

She frowned at the memory; Zuko always was their mother's favorite.

"What?" Zuko asked, obviously noticing the angry expression overtaking his sister's face.

"Nothing," Azula lied as they approached a door all too familiar too Azula, the door to her old room.

Zuko kicked it open, and inside it was exactly the way Azula had left it. The bed pushed up against the back wall was averaged sized for a child's, but it was still big enough for her to fit in now. On a shelf off on the side wall were some weapons and a few knick knacks, and up against the other wall was a dresser probably half filled with a few of her childhood clothes, but other than that the room was bare aside from a decorative scroll that hung on the wall. Zuko quite literally dropped her on her bed,

"I'll come get you for dinner," he said

"Oh you mean I actually get to eat with everybody else?" She scoffed, but Zuko said nothing and only left her.

Azula frowned at this; she didn't really like getting the cold shoulder from her brother. She knew that he hated her, but this is getting ridiculous. If he hates her so much then why is she even here? Why didn't he just let her die? Sure that decision very well could've had nothing to do with him and been the choice the extremely self-righteous avatar, but why was Zuko the one dealing with her? If he truly wants nothing to do with her then why was she in his tent at the last campsite? Why was he the one loading her on and off of the bison? Why was he the one who would come and get her for dinner? He hates her; she knows that, so why does he care?

* * *

"Hey," Katara said from the front door as Zuko came down the stairs, no doubt having left Azula in her old bedroom.

"Hey," he said back as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Thank you," Katara said and Zuko smiled a small smile, and then she did the most unexpected of things, she walked over and hugged him.

Despite how caught off guard he was by this Zuko returned the hug,

"You're welcome." He murmured into his friend's hair.

She then pulled away from the embrace and moved past him, most likely heading to the kitchen to see what would be there to cook dinner with later. Zuko then went to go outside, but just as he left the house he found Toph standing next to the front door, seemingly waiting for someone.

"We need to have a chat about your sister," she said, she then proceeded to seize Zuko's arm and pull him to the back of the house where it was less likely for someone to overhear them.

"If you're going to yell at me for Aang saving her-"

"I'm not," Toph cut off with a hand in his face, "While you were gone Azula started telling me that there's no possible way any of us will survive the comet coming, and obviously I told her to shut up. But the thing is when I accused her of playing some kind of mind games she said she wasn't, but she was lying." She explained,

"And this surprised you how?" Zuko questioned, knowing all too well that Azula is almost always manipulating someone for whatever reason.

"No Zuko I was able to tell she was lying," Toph further explained, "Her heartbeat sped up and her breathing faltered." She continued.

"So what? She wanted you to know she was lying?" He asked but Toph only shrugged.

"That or something's wrong with her," she said

"Maybe you've just gotten better," Zuko suggested but Toph shook her head.

"Thanks for the encouragement but I don't think that's the case, it could've just been a fluke." She suggested but that only meant it was Zuko's turn to shake is head.

"There aren't any flukes when comes to Azula," he said

"Then keep an eye on her, because something isn't right." Toph warned and Zuko nodded.

* * *

Azula didn't think it was possible to hate something more than being paralyzed in her brother's tent, but she was wrong. She hated being paralyzed and stuck in this room. She hated looking at the wooded walls of the room; she hated the decorative scroll with the images of fire lilies that her mother had hung up. She hated the shelf of weapons, and she hated this bed. She hated this whole room, and all of the lies that it held. As she lay on her old bed images of the days she had spent here flashed through her mind, no matter how much she willed them to stop. She couldn't help but imagine the ghost of a little girl digging through the dresser for a bathing suite, or playing around with one of the weapons her father had given her behind her mother's back. Back in those days things had almost seemed happy. Sure her mother still preferred Zuko, but she could live with that. In those days her mother still tucked her in at night, she at least pretended to love her. Back in those days the idea of love without fear hadn't been completely lost on her.

But those days are over.

* * *

 _"What?" Azula asked herself as her eyes fluttered open, when had she fallen asleep?_

 _"Shh, it's alright," a gentle and calming voice said, an all too familiar one._

 _That was when SHE appeared. Her mother, dressed in her usual red robe with the gold colored collar, was entering the room and coming to sit beside Azula on her bed._

 _"No," Azula growled, she wanted so badly to get up make the woman pay for all she's done, or rather all she hasn't done, but she couldn't. Her body was still stiff with paralysis and so she was forced to lie there and only snarl. "Stay away from me, you made your choice to abandon me!" She growled_

 _"I didn't want to abandon you Azula, I love you." She said but Azula shook her head as the very beginnings of tears started to prick at the edges of her eyes._

 _"You thought I was a monster!" Azula all but shouted; her mother actually seemed hurt by this comment._

 _"No, I love you." She said one more time, Azula would never admit this but a part of her actually wanted to believe it._

* * *

When Azula woke she found herself in a cold sweat and the sun setting outside her window, she must have fallen asleep. She lay there, thinking through the contents of her dream and hating them. Her mother never loved her, she knows that, and so she should know better than to dream that she did.

Just then she heard the footsteps of somebody approaching the door, and not even a minute later Zuko opened her door.

"Do you want to join us for dinner?" He asked bitterly

"Sure, why not?" Azula huffed and with a grunt Zuko came and lifted her over his shoulder.

Only then did Azula realize what the problem with dinner would be, since the group had just been throwing her food into the tent and then leaving her alone she hadn't had a problem eating without the use of her hands, just by biting off bits of the rolls they threw at her. But if Zuko expected her to eat with the others than that meant he either expected her to eat like a dog or to allow one of them to feed her like an infant, neither of which was going to be happening.

"On second thought, I'd rather stay up here." She said and Zuko sighed but set her back down on the bed and exited the room.

* * *

"No Azula?" Suki asked when Zuko returned to the table alone.

"Nope," he replied with a shake of his head.

"Maybe somebody should try talking to her," Aang suggested.

"And say what?" Zuko demanded, "Hey, sorry we took you prisoner, why don't you come to dinner tomorrow?" He continued, sarcasm lacing his every word.

"I don't know, why not?" Aang responded and it took just about every ounce of self-control Zuko had to keep from face palming.

"It's not like we've ever held a prisoner before," Katara offered.

"Well I say we're being too nice," Sokka put in, "I say we should just leave her outside, keep her paralyzed, and change our food tactic to throwing a roll at her head just once a day." He continued,

"Or better yet, put the roll just out of her reach." Toph evilly suggested.

"You two are horrible," Suki declared as she picked at her food.

"Maybe, but maybe Azula deserves to be treated that way." Zuko said darkly, causing just about everyone at the table to stare him.

"Zuko, she's your sister." Suki finally said in disbelief.

"So?" Zuko asked

"So how can you say that?" The Kyoshi warrior demanded

"Because it's true!" Zuko exclaimed

"Guys, calm down." Aang said in an attempt to halt the budding argument.

"You're mad at me?" Zuko demanded, "She's the one taking Azula's side!"

"I'm not taking Azula's side I'm just saying that she doesn't deserve to be tortured," Suki defended,

"Why not?" Zuko questioned, "She put you in prison, why do you care what happens to her?" He continued.

"I care because obviously you don't!" Suki shouted,

"Guys," Aang tried again but this time neither Zuko nor Suki even pretended to listen to him.

"Why should I care?" Zuko demanded; he and Suki now standing up.

"Because she's your sister," Suki seethed.

"So?" Zuko demanded again, "the Fire Lord is my father, but you seem fine with me not having a problem taking him out!" The fire bender exclaimed. Suki then let out a loud growl and proceeded to walk away from the dinner table. "Where are you going?" Zuko questioned her.

"For a walk," she answered bitterly, "I need to clear my head."


	4. Chapter 4

It was almost two hours later that Zuko found Suki about a mile down the beach, standing completely still in the shallow water of the ocean.

"Hey," he said as he approached her.

"Hey," she said back, "I'm sorry I got mad." She may have said it, but she didn't mean it. Zuko could tell by the way she spoke, not only right now but also earlier. She cared, for whatever reason she cared about the way he treated Azula. She could swallow enough of her pride to force an apology she doesn't mean, but she couldn't force herself to mean it.

He'd spoken in that voice before, mostly back when he was still on speaking terms with his father.

"It's ok," he said, because that's what you're supposed to say.

But Suki caught him off guard and shook her head, signaling that this was in fact going to be a conversation.

"No it's not," she began, "You were right, it's not fair for me to judge how you view your family." She continued, as she finally not only turned to face him, but actually approached him. "I just want you to consider the fact that unlike your father, Azula is still a kid." She said,

Zuko wasn't sure what exactly he had expected her to say, but that sure wasn't it.

"We're all kids Suki," he reminded her

"I know, and we're all doing what we're doing because we have to. Yes we have a choice but option B isn't all that great." She responded before she shrugged, "I just think that maybe Azula might be the same way." With that she walked past Zuko and began to make her way back to the house, and Zuko stayed there and gave that idea some thought.

* * *

"You ok?" Sokka asked when Suki returned to the house, everyone aside from herself and Zuko, and obviously Azula, was gathered in the living room to go over the plan for the next few days.

"I'm fine," Suki replied with a nod, "Sorry I made such a scene at dinner." She apologized.

"Don't worry about it, you sure you're ok?" Katara asked with the motherly concern that made Suki remember her conversation with Sokka.

"I'm sure," she said, taking a seat beside her boyfriend who put his arm around her. "What's going on?" She asked in order to move off the subject of her outburst at dinner.

"We're trying to figure out how it's going to be possible for me to master fire bending before the comet comes," Aang informed her.

"If you ask me it's not," Sokka said

"Some help you are," Toph commented

"What?" Sokka questioned, now taking back his arm because he has a habit of talking with his hands, "The comet is only a few weeks away and you've just barely gotten the hang of the basics of fire bending, the Fire Lord is the most evil man on the planet and you're going to be fighting him when he's at his most powerful. The Fire Nation already took Ba Sing Se, it's just not worth fighting him so close to the comet anymore." He continued and the others took a minute or two to consider what he'd said, before Katara spoke up.

"That actually makes sense," she agreed.

"Unfortunately," Toph muttered I agreement.

"But what about-" Aang started but Katara cut him off.

"Aang, Ba Sing Se was the last safe haven of the Earth Kingdom. There's nothing left for the Fire Nation to do except take over a few towns and wait for the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes to surrender. If we wait until after the comet then we can fix things but if you fight the Fire Lord during the comet and lose, there won't be any hope." She said gently and Aang gave a sigh, he wanted to end this war now. But Sokka does have a point; the risks are too great now.

"Ok," he agreed, "we'll wait."

* * *

Meanwhile Zuko had entered the house through the back, and gone up the back staircase to the second floor where he opened the door to his sister's room. Without a word he tossed her dinner to her, a small pouch of rice, making sure to hit her in the face.

"Well this is a change of pace," She remarked as the sack bounced off her skull, Zuko only growled as he entered the room and shut the door behind him.

"What's your game Azula?" He demanded, folding his arms over his chest.

"What do you mean?" She demanded in response but her brother's eyes narrowed.

"You know what I mean," he seethed and Azula sighed.

"You're no fun Zuzu," she said disinterestedly, "but if you must know I'm simply trying to find a way to improve my less than ideal situation."

"Maybe if you didn't have such a bad track record your situation wouldn't be so bad." He sneered and his sister pretended to give that some thought.

"I suppose you're right, so what did you come in here for?" She demanded

"Why are you doing this Azula?" He questioned her back; this seemed to catch the princess off guard. "Why are you hunting us?" He continued when she didn't answer him.

"Well I wasn't, it WAS your job. But then you proved once again how much of a failure you are and so father assigned me too it. I tried to give you the glory of the avatar's demise, but that only turned you into a traitor. So if that doesn't answer your question I don't know what will." She recounted for him, but the explanation only seemed to make him angrier.

"I'm going to leave you alone now, but I want you to think about something," he began and Azula nodded for him to continue. "We are going to end this war Azula, with or without your help. But you have a chance here," he said to her and she snorted with laughter.

"A chance? Please Zuzu, do you honestly believe that I would ever help you and your little friends?" She questioned but Zuko only headed for the door.

"Just think about it," he instructed and with that he left the room.

Outside of his sister's bedroom he worked through his plan, and he wondered if he was doing the right thing or not. But he made his way down the stairs anyway, only to run into Suki with her vial of 'poison'. He seized her closed hand, making her stop and look at him in confusion, but he wouldn't look at her.

"Tonight's the last night," he instructed seriously. "Tomorrow night bring her to the bathroom, bring her back to bed, then tell her you'll be right back with the serum. I want to see what she does." He explained; he knew that the effects of the serum, especially after having taken so many doses, would take a few days to wear off. By that time Azula would no doubt have made her choice, and with so many of them here to take her down should she choose attack, this gamble is worth it in Zuko's opinion.

* * *

Azula didn't know what would be worse, falling asleep or staying awake. On one hand she wasn't even tired since she had taken a nap earlier, but on the other hand staying awake meant being alone with her thoughts in this awful place. She considered how long it had been since she swallowed her nightly dose of poison but upon experimentally trying to raise her arm and she found that she could in fact still do it she figured that she must still have roughly twenty minutes before her body froze up completely. So she willed herself into a sitting position and then, leaning heavily on her bedside table, she pulled herself to her feet. Getting through the room mostly consisted of Azula grabbing anything she could and shifting her weight from object to object. Once she made it to the door she only hesitated for a second or two before opening it and shifting her weights from the edge of the doorway to a table in the hall. She all but threw herself down the stairs and upon reaching the bottom she was relieved to find that she was alone. She suspected that all the others must be out in the back courtyard, because she did hear voices and plus it's still early so it was doubtful that they were asleep. She didn't exactly know where she was going or what she was doing, all she knew was she had to get out of that room.

She found herself forcing her body outside, where she quickly fell over and instead of just lying there on the sandy hill she instead began to crawl away. She wasn't trying to escape her imprisonment, make no mistake there; she knew she was in no condition for that. But she needed to escape that house; she couldn't take it in there for another minute. It was filled with nothing, absolutely nothing but reminders of a much simpler time. Reminders of the days she'd spend digging holes in the sand, of the days she and Zuko could actually tolerate each other. Back when they had a mother…

"It doesn't matter now," she said to herself as her arms gave out and she collapsed onto the sand. "It doesn't matter," she repeated in a softer voice as she began to realize her current predicament. Now she was stuck on the ground, but at least she was away from that room.

She didn't know how long she lay there, but she did just lie there, before that bison approached and sniffed her and then proceeded to let out a loud roar. She cringed from the noise, and then even more so when she heard the feet of six teenagers fast approaching.

"Thanks a lot," she snarled at the beast, after that it wasn't long before the group stopped behind her.

"Azula!" Zuko exclaimed

"How did you get out here?" Katara demanded

"Well if you must know that poison doesn't have an instant effect and so I thought I had time to take a walk before I lost all use of my limbs but evidently I was wrong." She excused as she felt Zuko's annoyingly familiar arm lifting her up and slinging her over his shoulder.

He was quiet the whole march back to her room, something which admittedly surprised her. She'd thought he'd start lecturing her, but he just walked in silence. She was equally silent, watching the group of her captors gradually get further and further away. When they entered the house it was almost instantaneous, how quickly she felt her anger return to her body. All of the pain, all of the memories, everything she ever felt from them just came flooding back.

But she wouldn't show it.

She would never show it.

When Zuko dumped her back in her bed he looked at her with this look of hatred, and she was so convinced that that's all it was that she completely missed the sense of responsibility mixed in.

"Stay," he ordered her like a dog, she only huffed in response and turned her head away, so he left her there and shut the door, completely unaware of the silent tears falling down her face.

* * *

After he put Azula to bed Zuko went and locked himself in his own room. He let out a sigh as he removed his shirt and then proceeded to open the window in order to let the cool breeze of the night overpower the heat of the room. A thought then crossed his mind, and he left the room and walked back to his sister's room. At first he hesitated by the door, debating whether or not he should go in. But he decided that he should, if nothing else it's the right thing to do. So he opened her door and went inside, wordlessly opening her window. He then glanced at her, still clothed in her heavy battle gear.

"Azula," he whispered loudly but he received no response, "Azula," he tried again but again no answer. Figuring that she might actually be asleep already, though he doubted it, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What?" She asked in a very annoyed voice.

Zuko simply sighed as he pulled her into a sitting position and took a seat behind her, noticing how red her eyes were but wisely choosing to pretend he didn't. He lifted her shoulder pads off over her head and then wordless undid the ties on her back. Once they were undone he removed her battle clothes and let them fall to the floor. What surprised him was that Azula said nothing while he did this. She made no sarcastic comment, no demeaning remark; she didn't even make a disgusting joke. She just sat there and let him remove her protective gear. This left her in her red pants and matching red shirt, plus her gloves which Zuko eyed.

"Do you want your gloves off?" He questioned

"I don't care," Azula huffed; Zuko rolled his eyes but took them off anyway. He then laid her back down and pulled off her metal boots before spreading the thin sheet of the bed over her.

"Goodnight," he muttered as he left.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Merry Christmas! Ok i know this chapter is short but it will hopefully be the only one to be short like this! Thank you guys SO MUCH for the** **reviews! It really helps me to know what elements of this story you're liking and what ones you think need some work, not to mention it's helping determine some unresolved shipping decisions! I hope you all have a great day!**


	5. Chapter 5

Zuko didn't go to sleep that night. He went to bed, but he didn't go to sleep. He couldn't sleep even if he wanted to. He was too busy thinking about Azula.

Something is up with her, something that he can't explain. It's almost like she's slipping. But that's impossible; there is no slipping when it comes to Azula. Then again, there's also no being caught lying, there's no being wrong, and there is certainly no crying. But ever since they captured her, she's done all three.

 _Could this be her plan?_ Zuko wondered to himself, he knows that Azula will do anything to get what she wants but he's never known her to go this far. He's never known her to act as if she were an actual human being who feels.

But then again, maybe she is.

Thinking back, Zuko couldn't help but remember that night on the beach just a few weeks ago when they were last here. When Azula looked into the embers of the fire and started to say how their mother thought she was a monster. He had been so sure, and so hopeful, that he was actually about to see a human side of his sister. But then she locked it away and claimed that mom was right.

 _Did mom think she was a monster?_ Zuko wondered; their mother had always known Azula was a troublemaker, but a monster? Had the woman really believed that? He didn't think so, he wasn't blind enough to completely deny that overall he had a better relationship with their mom. But he also wouldn't go so far as to say she hated Azula. But that doesn't matter, because clearly Azula would.

Thinking about what Suki said to him earlier on the beach, about them all being kids who don't have a choice, and he tried to think of Azula on those terms. She's younger than him, and it won't be much when they're older, but right now and for everything that's happened in their lives so far two years is a lot. He may have been nine when their mother left, but Azula was only seven. He didn't think it bothered her; she was daddy's little girl after all. Ozai favored her-

Zuko stopped his thoughts cold.

Was that the way Azula felt about their mom? The same way he felt about their dad? Had her relationship with Ursa been about the same as his with their father?

Now Zuko was just giving himself a headache, mom had always praised him.

 _While dad always praised her,_

Mom had comforted him when he was scared

 _Dad taught her to not feel fear._

Mom stood up for him,

 _Dad stood up for her._

Mom loved him when he swore dad didn't.

 _Dad loved her when she swore mom didn't._

It was then that Zuko realized at least a part of what was going on in his sister's mind. She had been daddy's little girl since the day she was born, her natural talents in fire bending showed Ozai potential in her, and he monitored that potential. He kept her close, kept a close eye on her progress and made sure that she knew he saw what she was doing. She attached herself to him, and now with their mother gone and him a 'traitor', not to mention Mai and Ty Lee's betrayal of her, Ozai is the only person she has left. She is slipping, she's slipping because she knows that she has no way out of here, and if she's not leading the troops on the day of Sozin's comet then for the first time ever she will be a disappointment to father. As far as she's concerned that day will be her ultimate test, and if she fails, she doesn't know where she'll be.

* * *

"You want us to do what?" Sokka demanded the next morning as the whole group was gathered around the table eating what was left of their food for breakfast.

Zuko had just explained his plan for how to deal with Azula, his very crazy plan.

"I'm not asking you to be friends with her-" He began to defend.

"Really, because that's what it sounds like," Katara all but snapped.

"And I personally don't think it's a great idea to stop paralyzing her," Toph put in.

"Well what are we going to do with her when the comet comes?" Zuko asked out of frustration, "We can't exactly take her with us!" He continued to exclaim, and that was when he noticed the others looking at him as if he were crazy, even more so than they already were. "What?" He asked

"Um, I was actually going to wait until after Sozin's comet to fight The Firelord." Aang said, sending a shock through Zuko's system.

"After?" He questioned,

"I'm not ready, I need more time to practice fire bending." Aang explained,

"Plus, your earth bending could still use some work too." Toph added and when Zuko looked as though he were about to argue against this plan, which he was, Katara cut into the conversation.

"The whole point of fighting The Firelord before Sozin's comet was to stop the Fire Nation from winning the war, but they pretty much won the war when they took Ba Sing Se. Things can't get any worse." She said but Zuko let out a sigh.

"I wish that were true," he confessed remorsefully, "But you're wrong. Things are about to get worse than you can even imagine." He then proceeded to explain to his friends what had taken place at the war meeting he had attended before the invasion. "I wanted so badly to speak out against this awful plan, and I'm ashamed to say I didn't." He hung his head in guilt, while his friends just looked horrified.

"I can't believe this," Katara broke the silence.

"I always knew The Firelord was a bad guy, but his plan is just pure evil." Sokka said and Zuko just looked at Aang.

"Aang," he said, snapping back the attention of the avatar who seemed to be lost somewhere deep in his thoughts. "I know you're scared, and I know you're not ready to save the world. But if you don't defeat The Firelord before the comet comes, there won't be a world to save anymore."

For a moment Aang was quiet, as was everyone else, but then Aang's gaze turned angry and locked onto Zuko.

"Why didn't you tell me about your dad's crazy plan sooner?" He demanded

"I didn't think I had to, I figured you were stressed out enough. No one told me you decided to wait!" Zuko immediately defended as Aang began pacing the kitchen.

"This is bad," he finally said, "this is really, really bad."

"Aang calm down, we still have a few weeks before the comet comes." Katara said in an attempt to find a bright side to the situation.

"Actually we only have a little over two weeks-Ow!" Sokka began before Suki elbowed him in the ribs. "But now that we know what The Firelord's plan is we can build our battle strategy around it and be ready, we can do this." He quickly amended.

"He's right, I'll talk to Azula and see if she knows any more than I do about the plan. But don't get your hopes up, I think just about everything was covered during that meeting." Zuko said while Katara nodded Aang still appeared to be mulling the whole thing over.

"This is going to be the hardest thing we've ever done together," the young avatar finally said, "but I wouldn't want to do it any other way."

* * *

Not long after Azula woke up she got her usual piece of bread to the face courteous of her brother.

"What do you know about father's plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom?" He demanded from the doorway.

"About as much as you do," Azula replied, not interested at all in the conversation at hand.

She was too busy with her own thoughts, her mind replaying last night on a continuous loop.

* * *

 _"Stay," he ordered her like a dog, she only huffed in response and turned her head away, so he left her there and shut the door, completely unaware of the silent tears running down her face._

 _She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the tears to stop, but they wouldn't. She wouldn't make a sound; she had mastered the art of silent crying at a young age. Even though she had only been outside for five minutes it was worth it. She had gotten five minutes of air, five minutes of ESCAPE, before Zuko had dropped her back into this horrid room. She could never tell Zuko why she had tried to go outside, why she wanted to be away from this place. He thinks he's so special, that he's the only one whose childhood died the day their mother left. He would never understand; he would never listen enough to understand. To him-_

 _She stopped her mental rant._

 _She heard footsteps; he was coming back._

 _Quickly, she blinked and nuzzled her face harshly against the bed to get rid of her tears, and just as she was sure she was safe from exposing her despair the door slide open behind her._

 _He didn't speak at first; instead his feet padded across the wooden floor until she heard the sliding sound of the window opening, and suddenly realized how hot she was when the cool ocean breeze hit her._

 _"Azula," Zuko's voice came in a loud whisper but she ignored him, hoping that maybe he just might go away. "Azula," he tried again but she still said nothing, however when he began walking closer to her bed instead of the door she knew that he would not be leaving just yet. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and she knew she had to respond._

 _"What?" She sneered, expecting some annoying comment in return._

 _But she didn't get one._

 _Instead Zuko let out a sigh and pulled her up to sit on the mattress, climbing onto the bed behind her and finally letting her lean against him as a means of staying up. Now Azula was, understandably, beyond confused. But she remained quiet as her brother lifted her dirt covered shoulder pads over her head and continued by removing the rest of her sweat soaked padding. Ordinarily she would never allow herself to be humiliated in such a way, but it felt so good to feel her body able to breathe again that she honestly didn't care. It's not like it was one of the other's removing her padding, not like it was some boy with an ulterior motive in this. Of course Zuko must have some ulterior motive in doing this, because why else would he be doing this? It's not like he cares about her, the two of them stopped caring for each other long ago. But whatever his motive, it isn't the same as one another boy would have, so she kept her mouth shut and allowed him to drop her padding to the floor without so much as a bat of her eye._

 _"Do you want your gloves off?"_

 _"I don't care," She huffed her response, trying to gather as much venom into the words as she could._

 _Zuko took the gloves off anyway before he maneuvered himself out from behind her and gently lay her back down; almost to gently for Azula to truly believe that he was after something. Then, just when she thought he was going to leave, he gripped one of her metal boots and pulled it off her foot before repeating the action with the other foot. To this action she had to stop herself from exhaling in relief, her protective gear was bad but for the past few days those boots had been torturous. Then Zuko spread the thin sheet of the bed over stiff body, purposely neglecting the comforter because he knew she'd be too hot with it and unable to throw it off herself._

Why is he doing this? _Azula wondered to herself, what could Zuko possibly have to gain by treating her as if he cares about her? He can't possibly be stupid enough to think that this would actually convince her to betray dad. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice him leaving the room._

 _"Goodnight," he muttered and with that he was gone, and she was alone again._

 _"Goodnight Zuzu," she said softly, for once the name wasn't meant to be an insult._

* * *

"Azula," Zuko said sternly, bringing her out of her very recent memory. "Millions of people are going to die if The Firelord goes through with this plan, if you know ANYTHING that I don't I suggest you start talking." He continued; his arms folded over his chest.

"Well then this is going to be a short conversation," Azula remarked, "Sorry to burst your bubble Zuzu but the war meeting that you and I both attended was the most recent one. Sure there have been many discussions between father and his generals but nothing that concerned me, the next meeting I was scheduled to attend won't be held until the night before the attack." She replied but Zuko only narrowed his eyes more than he already had.

"That doesn't matter." He seethed, "I know you Azula, and you always have to make sure that you're one step ahead. If father held meetings with the generals then you would somehow make sure you knew what was said." He continued, he knew that there was no way Azula would allow for any secret meetings to take place without her knowledge.

"Sorry to burst your bubble Zuzu, but I was a little preoccupied dealing with your prison escape." She said, she could tell that Zuko didn't entirely believe her but that's his own fault, because she was telling the truth. She never had time to spy on any secret meetings due to the problems going on over at The Boiling Rock.

With one last growl Zuko turned on his heel and left the room.

* * *

"What did I do to deserve this?" Sokka grumbled to himself as he trudged up to the second floor of the beach house later that afternoon.

Aang and Zuko were currently in the back courtyard practicing some fire bending while Katara, Toph, and Suki had all gone into town. Initially, Sokka had been very confused by Toph asking to go with Katara and Suki, as she normally isn't one to volunteer for a girls day. Only now was he realizing that she had predicted what was going to happen if she stayed behind and chose to join the other girls in grocery shopping to save herself. Sokka had stayed behind, and as a result Zuko had asked him to go and talk to Azula. He didn't see the point in it honestly, Zuko had asked them this morning to try treating her like an actual person but as far as Sokka was concerned that's what they had been doing. They treated her as a person, they treated her as a person who has tried to murder all of them and countless others several times.

 _Tried but only once succeeded,_ a small voice in his head reminded the warrior, and for the record the one person she ever did kill didn't stay dead.

Sokka shook the thought away, what does it matter if Aang stayed dead or not? She still killed him, she's still a murderer, and she still deserves to be treated like a prisoner.

 _Maybe if I'm lucky she'll just tell me to get lost,_ the Water Tribe boy thought to himself, knowing Zuko could never say that he didn't try if Sokka went in but was told to leave. Plus, who knows? This is Azula they're dealing with after all; maybe he would have such luck.

So it was with a rather heavy but still slightly hopeful sigh that Sokka opened the door that lead to Azula's room.

"What do you want?" Her voice sneered at him the moment he opened the door.

"Zuko wanted me to check on you," he admitted, making sure that his tone told her just how little he actually wanted to be here.

"Well you've checked, now leave me alone." She snarled, despite the fact that those were the exact words Sokka had been hoping to hear he didn't leave, he instead folded his arms over his chest and remained stubbornly in the doorway.

"You know for a girl who's been spending 95% of her time alone, you sure aren't very eager for some company." He pointed out.

"Not when it comes in the likes of you," The princess muttered and with that Sokka only grew angrier.

"Do you think we want you here?" He demanded, "Do you think we want to have to worry about you killing us in our sleep on top of everything else that's going on?" He continued,

"Oh yeah, the paralyzed girl is definitely going to get up and kill six people while they sleep." She interrupted,

"Well maybe if you weren't such a psychopath we wouldn't have to paralyze you!" Sokka exclaimed quickly.

"Is that supposed to be an insult?" Azula demanded

"To any normal person it would be," Sokka replied; Azula simply rolled her eyes at his comment.

"Well believe me I want to be here about as much as you want me here. So tell me, Sokka, why did you and friends even bother saving me?" She asked, although it sounded to be more of a challenge. "Everything could've been so much easier for you if I had just fallen off that cliff." She taunted, she had expected to see Sokka grow even angrier. She expected for him to tell her that if it were up to him she would have died, she even could have expected him to admit that saving her was 'the right thing' even though he doesn't agree with it. But what she didn't expect was for him to look at her almost in horror, even some sadness mixed in on his face.

"How can you say that?" He finally asked her; sure he had been more opposed to saving her than anyone, except maybe Katara. He'd questioned why they had to save her and if it would really be so hard to live with themselves if she died. He'd pointed out time and time again how easy things would be with her gone, but it was never his own life he was talking about.

"How can I say what? The Truth?" Azula snapped,

"Azula you were falling to your death!" Sokka exclaimed, "It's one thing for me to point out how much easier things would be for us with you gone, but how can you do it?" He demanded, "How can you lay there and say how much easier the lives of others would be if you had died?" He continued; he knew Zuko had considered that Azula might be lonely, but he never thought she could be this far gone.

"Not much else to do in here, but if it makes you feel better I can promise you that I will never give your little band of misfits the satisfaction of things getting easier." He huffed,

"That does make me feel better," Sokka said

"Good, now will you PLEASE get out of here?" She questioned again and Sokka nodded, he turned and headed for the door but stopped just as he reached it and turned back.

He almost said something, but with his mouth unable to find any words he turned back to the hall and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

_Azula wanted this to end._

 _She was down on her knees; she had no choice as she was hunched over with one hand clutching her stomach. She could feel the large bruise forming along her ribs, but it was hardly the first she'd received. She was not only bruised, but also burned, bloody, and broken in some places. She was crying tears that she wished would stop, but she had no control._

 _She had failed._

 _She had failed to outsmart the avatar and his friends, she had failed to escape them, and now her father was standing before her and making her pay for it._

 _"Please, forgive me father." She begged as she coughed up some blood._

 _"You pathetic excuse for a child!" Her father roared and with that he extended his arm, and shot a blast of fire to her face._

* * *

"AH!" Azula awoke with a scream, sitting up before she even opened her eyes. She thought she had been grateful before that Suki forgot her nightly dose of poison, but now she knew what grateful was.

She didn't have to sit there paralyzed; she could wrap her arms around herself and hold herself.

"It's ok," she whispered to herself, gently rubbing her thumb back and forth along her arm in a soothing motion. "You're ok, it was just a dream." She repeated to herself.

"Azula," a voice grabbed her attention, and standing before her she saw her mother. "You are a strong girl Azula-"

"Shut up!" She snarled at the vision of her mother. She knew it was a vision; it had to be, no matter how real it felt. But her mother would never do this, she would never care enough to try and sooth her sobbing daughter. So just like that the vision disappeared, very much like Ursa had done in reality so many years ago. One minute she was there, and the next she was gone.

* * *

Zuko was lying in bed, trying to falls asleep, when he heard a shout come from somewhere down the hall.

"Shut up!" The voice screamed; he was too close to sleep to realize whose voice it was, all he realized was that it was someone.

So he got up and went to his door, but when he opened it he found no one in the hallway; however the muffled sounds of tears still persisted. He looked all around, but no one was in the hall and the nearest door led into Azula's room.

"No possible way," he murmured under his breath but before he could do anything Sokka came out from around a corner, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Who's fighting?" He asked, obviously having heard the scream of 'shut up'.

"I'm not sure," Zuko replied as he cautiously approached his sister's door. Despite his careful approach he opened it quickly, but inside found Azula lying on her side, facing him with her eyes closed.

"Hm, she doesn't look so dangerous while she sleeps." Sokka commented.

Zuko eyed Azula skeptically, knowing there was a very real chance that she was actually awake and just trying to get him to go away. However he also knew that if she was awake then she doesn't want either him or Sokka in here and so with respect for that, and very little desire to deal with her so late at night, he shrugged and closed the door.

* * *

 _That's right, leave. Like mother like son._ Azula thought bitterly to herself once her door had been closed. Of course she never meant for Zuko to hear her, and she was berating herself for that, but the fact that he is just like their mother still stands. He doesn't love her, he feels obligated to not kill her, but the concept of 'love' between the two of them had been long forgotten.

So Azula lay there, trying to fall back asleep, but she couldn't. Tears were welling up in her eyes, and despite her trying her hardest they wouldn't stop. Now that she had use, albeit very uncoordinated use, of her arms and legs she used her hands to wipe away the tears, but they just kept coming. She couldn't stop, and a part of her didn't want to. She was quiet, but not as quiet as usual. Between her nightmare and Zuko and just the agonizing pain that came with this house she just didn't care enough to keep herself quiet.

"It just isn't fair!" She whispered to herself, "How can he do it? How can Zuko come back here and act like it's just a building?" Again she was whispering her questions, "This place… This place was the only place we were ever a family!" She snarled in a whisper, and it was true. At home, in the palace, life and politics had a very slim divide. At home father was The Firelord, mother hardly ever smiled because her underdog rarely pulled ahead in the race for father's attention. But here, here at the beach house, father was just father. He ruffled his daughter's hair when he sat down to breakfast, he berated his son far less than he did at home, and he whined but still went along just like his children when mother dragged them to a performance of Love Amongst the Dragons. At the beach house, mother would smile more, and would fret over where to hang whatever wall decoration she had recently picked up in a local shop. She would help her children build sandcastles and wade into the cold water of the ocean with them. Azula was even aware that she and Zuko were different when here. They still fought, and they fought often, but their fights here at the beach house were more fun. They would fight over who got to choose the night's activity, or got to burry who in the sand.

But now that was all in the past.

The year her mother left was the first year they didn't come to Ember Island, the first of many. Now this house was nothing more than haunted shell, a shell of what had once been an escape.

Azula hated being here now, being surrounded and taunted by the few happy memories of her childhood, being reminded that those days will never come again. She hated it all so much, and since she still lacked her bending all she wanted to do was punch something, but she couldn't. If she did then someone would hear, someone would notice. So she just kept crying, her breath coming out in hiccups until she felt she would be sick.

But she was still angry.

She was angry because if she were to fail then her father would in fact punish her in a manner not very far off from what she dreamed. She was angry because if that happened she would be alone, because mother wouldn't care if father hurt her. Zuko wouldn't care and Uncle, the man who Zuko claimed he would beg for forgiveness from, wouldn't care. When Zuko was burned he volunteered to watch over him during his exile, but if it had been his niece? Well the old man probably wouldn't have batted an eye.

A part of Azula knew that she would deserve such punishment; she wasn't the nicest child after all. But she was a child. She was a little girl who understood one thing; it was her destiny to grow up and become Firelord. She still understands that, to this day, and she knows that a Firelord never cries. She knows it is a very infantile thing to do. But she just can't stop. She feels as though she may throw up but she doesn't care, she keeps crying. Even when she does want to stop, even when she understands that this is completely and utterly ridiculous, she keeps crying. She is no longer crying for the longing of better days, no longer crying with anger and hatred for the mother who abandoned her. Instead she is crying out of something she's never cried for.

She is crying out of loneliness.

She's been lonely before, she's spent most of her life that way, and so it surprises her that this is what she's crying for. But she still cries; because a part of her knows that father probably isn't looking for her, because her mother never cared enough to go after her when she cried and then abandoned her, but mostly it was because Zuko isn't stupid and knows she was awake when he came in, and he didn't care enough to come back and check on her.

* * *

Little did Azula know that not everyone was oblivious to her occurring meltdown. In the room below her Toph was trying to sleep, trying being the keyword in that sentence. Despite the fact that she is perfectly capable of seeing with her feet, her lack of eyesight had still sharpened her hearing and thanks to that she could very distinctly hear the high-pitched gasps for breath coming from the room above her. They were quiet, and considering she had absolutely no idea what she could do except for maybe telling Azula to shut up, she tried to just block the noise out. It almost worked too, but then the banging started. All of a sudden all the earth bender could hear was the sounds of Azula pounding on her floor.

"What is she doing up there?" She grumbled to herself, finally having had enough and considering the banging to be the last straw.

She got out of bed and carefully made her way up the stairs, seeing on wood floors was nowhere near as bad as seeing in the desert but it also wasn't as clear as seeing in regular earth. When she did make it upstairs she approached Azula's door and hesitated, she could feel how the girl inside was hunched over on the ground and pounding her fists into the floor. This scared her, she knew Azula was crazy but she had never pegged her for this kind of crazy.

Toph didn't have any idea what could be causing this, if it was an effect of withdrawal from the poison or if Azula had some sort of emotional reason to be breaking like this. She doubted it was the former, Suki hadn't mentioned that the poison was addictive and she was certain that if it were they would've been informed. She also wasn't one to write off Azula as emotionless. She knows a thing or two about emotional walls, she knows that everyone has emotions, but for one reason or another some people just aren't particularly great at showing them.

She wanted to go in, wanted to help, but she doesn't know how. She gets near an emotional meltdown and she just shuts down. She doesn't want to; in fact she really wants to be able to help when someone is hysterical like this. But that just isn't something that she knows how to do yet. So she went with her next best option.

* * *

"Katara!" Katara awoke to the sound of her name being shouted as a pounding noise came from the other side of the door to the guest room she was sharing with Suki, "Katara!" It came again and this time Katara got up and raced to the door, Suki sitting up in bed curious to know what was going on.

To say that Katara was surprised to see Toph in the hallway in a panic would be an understatement, and she was about to ask if they were under attack, but Toph attempted to explain herself before she could.

"You need to get upstairs! Azula is going crazy!" She began rapidly saying as she tried to catch her breath.

"Toph, calm down. What's going on?" The older girl asked but Toph just responded by grabbing her arm and tugging her along through the house.

Obviously curious, Suki got up and hurried to follow her friends as they ran through the house and up the stairs. Once on the second floor they stopped outside of Azula's door and only then did they notice the high-pitched gasps for breath coming from the inside. For a moment Katara stared at the door nervously, completely unsure of what she would find inside the room. But she couldn't turn her back; even if Toph and Suki weren't standing right there and she had discovered this herself she wouldn't be able to walk away. She couldn't turn her back on something like this, no matter how much she wished too.

* * *

Once Zuko left Azula wasn't so careful with her volume, something that clearly turned out to be a mistake. It was awhile after her brother left her, but the door opened again. By now she was kneeling on the floor, hunched over and just finished with getting her anger out via punching the ground. She looked up to see a very horrified looking Katara, behind her was Suki equally horrified and Toph whose face held an expression that Azula couldn't quite read, but to be fair it is difficult to read the facial expressions of someone standing off in a dark corner where they can barely be seen. Finally Katara stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, much to Azula's chagrin.

"Did Zuko send you here? He can't deal with me himself?" She demanded, furious that her brother seriously could ever expect her to explain herself to the water bender.

"I don't think Zuko even knows you're awake," Katara said in a surprisingly calm voice as she knelt down in front of Azula. "Are you ok?" She asked and Azula rolled her eyes.

"What do you think?" She demanded as she used the heel of her hand to wipe away a few tears.

"Sorry," Katara muttered, knowing her question may not have been the best. "Do you want to talk?" She asked gently.

"Not to you," Azula snarled and Katara sighed as she looked down at her lap.

"Azula I'm trying to help you-" she began but she was cut off.

"Help me?!" Azula demanded incredulously, "What do you even care?" She continued to demand through her tears. "Why would you want to help me? You don't care what happens to me!" She exclaimed.

"That's not true!" Katara shouted

"Oh come on!" Azula exclaimed, "If I had gotten away on my own you'd be plotting to kill me right now!" She shouted and Katara looked away, because much as it disgusts her to admit this, Azula was right.

So she got up and looked down at the weeping princess before her. "The only reason for that is because you would be plotting to kill us. I could kill you right now if I wanted, but I won't." She said in a steady voice, "I've looked into the eyes of a murderer Azula, very recently. There is nothing inside the eyes of a person who has no soul. But there's something in your eyes. You're breaking Azula, and I can tell you're scared. But tomorrow this is all going to be over, and you're going to have a choice. You can continue to bottle everything up inside, and have another breakdown just like this in a few years. Or you try letting someone, anyone, in. I won't tell you what to do, but if I were you I would start talking, because you're only going to hurt yourself if you don't." She said and with that she gave Azula a minute or two but when it became clear that she was only going to kneel there, hunched over and crying; she left.

Once she was gone Azula looked up and stared at the door.

"I don't know how to talk," she whispered through her sobs.

* * *

Zuko ran a hand over his face the next morning after Katara told him what Toph had discovered last night; he knew he should've been concerned when she started telling the empty room to shut up.

"I'm starting to think letting her fall off that cliff wouldn't have been such a bad idea," He commented

"Don't say that," Suki warned in a tired voice, obviously without a valid reason behind her words.

"Why not?" Zuko demanded, "She's caused more trouble than she's worth."

"I don't care, she's your sister and you shouldn't talk about wanting her dead, you shouldn't even think it!" Suki exclaimed

"Sorry, mom, but this is Azula we're talking about!" Zuko argued back

"Believe me, I know who we're talking about." Suki argued, lowering her voice but increasing its venom.

"Then why are you defending her!?" Zuko demanded; his voice still enraged.

"Because she was raised by your monster of a father and I think after all that she deserves a little compassion!" Suki exclaimed

"Compassion? Azula wouldn't know compassion if you slapped her in the face with it!" Zuko shouted in response.

"Six months ago neither would you!" Suki all but screamed; everyone stopped at that point. Zuko didn't argue, he couldn't. Toph and Katara looked at the other girl as if she had just crossed line, because she did. Suki's seething form quickly dissipated, and in its place it left an utterly remorseful girl with the reality of what she just said crashing down on her.

Without another word Suki decided that it was time she left before she made things worse, if that's even possible, and so she turned and walked out of the kitchen, passing her boyfriend on her way but not so much as glancing at him when he tried to say hi to her.

"Is Suki ok?" Sokka questioned as he entered the kitchen, though Suki was no longer his only concern when he got a look at the three occupants of the room.

"She's fine, just another disagreement over what to do with Azula." Zuko answered as he got up and left, purposely going in the direction opposite of where Suki had gone.

"Should I-?" Sokka began but Katara cut him off with a shake of her head.

"Give her some time to cool down, besides this is between Suki and Zuko." She responded and Sokka nodded as he grabbed an apple.

"I'm going to go check out the town, anyone want to come?" He asked,

"Love to but twinkle toes needs to work on his earth bending and I've gotta help him." Toph replied.

"Yesterday was enough for me," Katara replied before an idea came to her head. Azula's bending shouldn't return until tomorrow, and although the poison has left her weak she should be strong enough to walk, plus she's been locked up in that room so much that it probably contributed to her breakdown last night, a day out might be just what she needs. "But why don't you bring Azula along?" She suggested and Sokka nearly spit out his apple at the idea.

"What?!" He asked, nearly choking.

"Her bending isn't going to come back until tomorrow and she's just strong enough to walk, it's perfectly safe." Katara reasoned but Sokka wasn't going to give in so easily.

"Safe?" He demanded, his voice getting high like it usually does when he's in a panic. "Katara this is Azula we're talking about! Nothing is safe!" He continued

"Sokka she's been either in a tent or a room by herself since we saved her, she needs to be with other people at some point or she's going to go crazy." Katara lectured, her and Toph both knowing that the princess might already be walking the line of crazy.

"Then we'll let her hang out in the living room," Sokka suggested but from the way Katara was glaring at him he knew he had no choice. "Fine," he sighed, roughly 94% certain that he would die today.


	7. Chapter 7

If Azula weren't so desperate to get out of this accursed house she never would've agreed to be babysat by that pathetic snow peasant with the boomerang. But she is desperate, and so when Katara came in and asked if she'd like to join Sokka when he went into town today she found herself saying yes, not outright of course, she couldn't let the water bender know just how much she wants to get out of here. Katara left saying that Sokka would come up and get her when he was ready to leave, and so Azula figured that she may as well make herself look presentable if she were to be going out in public. Her clothes were filthy and her hair was a mess, and so she could only hope Sokka would not be ready any time soon.

First she decided that some new clothes were in order and began looking through her old dresser, but having not set foot in this room since she was six all of the clothes were much to small. With a huff she conceded to the pointlessness of searching the room, knowing that she would find nothing that would fit her. So she set to work on her hair, but that too proved to be easier said than done. She had an old hairbrush in the top drawer of her dresser, but oddly enough she had no mirror in the room. Even if she did have a way to see what she was doing the knots in her hair were far too twisted for her to brush out. She decided that if she was going to have any hope of getting her hair into half decent condition she would need a mirror, and it was just then that it dawned on her that without being paralyzed she was no longer trapped in this room.

She cracked the door open quietly and when she found the outside hallway empty she crept out of her room and made her way to the bathroom. When no one responded to her knock on the door she went inside and locked the door behind her. She cringed at the sight that greeted her in the mirror. She had bags under her eyes, and her hair was matted and knotted and practically sticking out in every direction. She tried again to brush it out but apparently being able to see how bad it is only made things worse. She couldn't figure out how to do this without causing herself a lot of pain, and in the end she tried to just tie it back but that ended up going even worse.

"Come on," she growled before trying and failing again, this was hopeless!

Just then a panicked shriek from the hall caught her attention and she stopped fiddling with her hair.

"Guys! Azula's gone!" It was, of course, the idiotic non-bender she was supposed to spend the day with.

"I'm in here!" She called with annoyance, already very aware that this is going to be a painfully long day.

"Never mind!" She heard Sokka call and she couldn't help put face palm, oh yes a painfully long day indeed.

But with the need to escape from this house growing stronger every second she admitted defeat to her hair, more or less, and settled for haphazardly tying it back as best as she could manage. She then opened the door to find Sokka glaring in annoyance at her; clearly he wanted to be the one in charge of her just as much as she wanted him in charge of her.

"What, I'm still supposed to wait for your girlfriend to bring me to the bathroom?" She sneered at him and he sighed.

"Let's just go."

* * *

The day was drawing closer. The day in which the Earth Kingdom would fall and with the Water Tribes being a very minimalistic and almost primitive threat, the Fire Nation would rise as the soul power on earth. There were some adjustments that would have to be made to the plan for the destruction of the Earth Kingdom, due to Azula's absence, but nothing too serious. After all, Ozai had planned since the beginning to leave her and Zuko behind to watch over the palace. When Zuko left it didn't change anything, but now with Azula gone as well some minor adjustments would still have to be made. But nothing to important mind you, the plan will still be carried out flawlessly.

The Firelord smirked evilly as he went over his plan of attack for a second time this week, making sure that it was flawless. There was only one snag to his otherwise perfect plan,

Azula.

Her capture by the Avatar had initially been of little to no concern and he simply brushed it off, but that was because he was sure she would free herself and send word to home within two days. But now it had been nearly a week, and there was no evidence that the princess was free. This aggravated Ozai, because it turned Azula into a wild card. He doubted that she would side with the Avatar; she was far too bloodthirsty for power. But that was the very trait that worried him. It may have taken his self-righteous brother years to turn Zuko against the nation, and really Azula can be every bit as stubborn as he is when she wants to, but Zuko's hate for his father runs deeper and longer than those three years of banishment. He would try and convince Azula to turn against him, and if Azula's smart enough she would take him down and assume the role as ruler of the world for herself.

That is something that Ozai could not allow to happen.

Of course it is unlikely, Azula may think herself to be clever but she is far blinder than she realizes. Still, she is powerful. Ozai took a very active role in her training in fire bending, and while he did not train her entirely himself he did show her the lightning technique. With such a technique she would be a worthy adversary even for him, and the Firelord could not afford to take any chances.

"Aki," He summoned his servant who was standing quietly and obediently in the far corner of the room.

"Yes your highness?" Aki asked as he bowed before the intimidating man.

"Bring me the leader of the Yuyan Archers." Ozai requested

"Yes sir," Aki obeyed before bowing his head and scurrying out of the room.

* * *

Both Sokka and Azula wanted to go to the town part of Ember Island, however neither of them wanted to go with the other. That being said it was a very quiet walk, and Azula wished more than anything that she could just run away but unfortunately that was not an option. She was still weak from the poison, still had no bending, and honestly just the action of walking was sucking up a good amount of her energy. So for now she just followed Sokka wherever he dragged her, and at this point he had dragged her through most of the small town. Truthfully she didn't hate this as much as she hated the house, in fact if her circumstances were better she might actually be enjoying herself. The shops throughout the town were filled with pointless souvenirs that ranged from dolls wearing island dresses, to the embarrassingly large straw hats Lo and Li often wore in the sun.

Lo and Li.

For a moment Azula wondered if they were here, because they don't live far from the beach house and she was sure she could make it there under the cover of night without anyone noticing. They could help her get home. But then she remembered that her Fire bending teachers had been called back to the palace to assist her in some final training for the day of Sozin's Comet, and it's highly unlikely that in her absence they would've come all the way back to Ember Island.

So she was back to following Sokka around and rolling her eyes as the simplest things around the small town continuously mesmerized him. She was really getting tired of this, especially since any strength the poison hadn't sucked from her was depleting quickly and she was now fighting to stay on her feet. But she can't let Sokka see that, she won't be seen as weak. Of course that life goal may as well have gone out the window last night, but at least Sokka was proving to be much more oblivious than his sister. Actually she shouldn't say he's oblivious, because it's obvious that he can tell she's stumbling when she walks and has noticed that when he stops to look at something she's quick to lean against the nearest wall. But for whatever reason he doesn't say anything for a while. Maybe he doesn't care, maybe he just wants to see how long she can last, Azula never would've guessed his real reason.

That he saw her as too strong to allow herself to not be fine.

So it was a long morning of walking through the town and when Sokka finally did consider that maybe Azula wasn't fine, and asked, and in response she insisted that she was in fact fine. They didn't last too much longer after that before, after stopping in a shop, Sokka noticed that Azula was even more reluctant than before to peel herself from the wall.

"Are you sure you don't need to sit down?" He asked again, "You've been paralyzed for days." He reminded her.

"For the last time I'm fine," she sneered at him. In reality she was very far from fine. Her legs, and to a lesser extent her arms, were killing her with an excruciating aching and she honestly didn't care that she would be going back to her room in the beach house, she just wanted this to be over.

"Alright but tell me if you want to sit down," Sokka said

"All I want is to go back to the house," Azula snapped.

"Hey, we came here to check out the town, besides what are you going to do at the house?" Sokka questioned and Azula rolled her eyes.

"Well get away from you for one thing," She snapped

"Ha, ha." Sokka said dryly, far from amused. "Come on, I just want to see what's down here and then we'll go." He said as he headed off down a path.

"Fine," Azula said grudgingly as she followed.

To her credit, Azula lasted not only through the time Sokka was gawking at some sword sheath that he didn't end up buying, but also close to halfway through the path back through town. However on the way back some useless object caught Sokka's attention and so she took up her usual position against a wall. When Sokka finally realized that he didn't need anything in the shop Azula was all too eager to get going, and as a result found herself face planting into the ground as her legs finally gave out.

She growled as she propped herself up on her elbow, attempting to get back to her feet, as Sokka hurried over and helped her up.

"Are you ok?" He asked but she glared daggers at him.

"What's it to you?" She demanded but he only ignored her as he helped her up and placed her arm along his shoulders for support. He helped her over to a nearby bench and had her sit down before he sat next to her.

"You know if you didn't keep insisting that you're fine this might not have happened," he scolded her.

"Oh sure blame me, considering the amount of times you asked you obviously knew I was lying." She responded coldly.

"You're right, sorry." He admitted and Azula looked skeptically at him, he appeared to be genuine.

"It's alright," she said awkwardly and so the two of them just sat there in an awkward silence.

"I suppose your sister told you about last night?" She asked but judging by the very confused look on Sokka's face it was apparent that she was wrong.

"What happened last night?" He questioned

"Oh nothing, she tried talking to me is all but I wasn't interested in anything she had to say, so I assumed that the reason she sent me off with you today was so you could give it a shot." She tried to brush the situation off but again Sokka shook his head.

"No, she asked me to bring you because she thought you could use some time out of the house." He replied

"Well she clearly didn't realize that there is still some poison left in my system." She scoffed and Sokka sighed, he wanted to say something, but he could think of anything. So he just got to his feet and held a hand out to Azula,

"Come on, let's head back." He suggested.

* * *

"I'm sorry about what I said," A soft yet strong voice snapped Zuko out of his thoughts. He and Aang had just finished their morning lesson and now he was up in his bedroom, looking through some old things. But he turned around when he heard this voice, and saw Suki standing anxiously in his doorway. "About you six months ago, you were a different person then." She continued, looking at her feet in embarrassment.

"I'm glad you said it," He said to her and when she looked up with confusion he motioned for her to come in. "Mom didn't want Azula to find this before her birthday, so she hid it in here." He explained as he held out a child-sized necklace with a ruby pendant.

"It's beautiful," Suki commented

"We were going to come here over her eighth birthday, but then mom left and dad never brought us." He admitted and Suki frowned, "You were right when you said Azula was raised by my monster of a father." He continued

"Zuko-" Suki began apologetically, no doubt feeling guilty that she had called her friend's father a monster.

"It's ok, he is a monster." Zuko said, "I was always so much closer to my mother than I was to him, Azula was always his favorite. I never realized it until recently but Azula must have felt about our mother the way I feel about our father, like I was the favorite." He said and Suki nodded

"When she left Azula must have thought she was abandoning her." She added

"Now that Mai and Ty Lee, who have been her best friends practically since they could walk, betrayed her all those feelings of abandonment are coming back. That's why she started breaking down last night, all this pain she's been neglecting for years is coming back." Zuko explained

"But this is still Azula, even Toph can't tell when she's lying, you would think she'd be a little better at masking it." Suki pointed out, but Zuko had already though of that.

"Lo and Li once said that Ember Island is a magical place and that it gives everyone a clean slate, that the island can reveal the true you." He explained, Suki almost wanted to ask who Lo and Li are, but she decided against it.

"Ok but what do we do?" She asked instead

"The same thing we did with Katara, we let her anger out." He responded

* * *

It was mid-afternoon when Kichiro, head of the Yuyan Archers, arrived at the royal palace. The Firelord had summoned him and so obviously he was a little nervous about what could be in store for him. Ordinarily nerves were not an issue for Kichiro, such pointless feelings had been beaten out of him before he was five years old. But Yuyan Archers, respected and feared as they are throughout the world, do not hold a very secure place with the Firelord. It was many years ago that Vachir failed a mission given to him by the Firelord, and for his failure not only had he been discharged from the Archer's, but the Firelord had made a point never to use the elite group for another mission since.

So therefor, yes, Kichiro was a little nervous and very surprised by this summons. He was led into the Firelord's throne room by a servant and quickly knelt before his lord.

"You sent for me your highness?" He questioned

"How many years ago, Kichiro, was it that Vachir failed me?" The Firelord asked

"Um, seven sir." Kichiro answered quickly as he could, though he wasn't sure it was quick enough.

"Yes, and can I trust that the capability of the archers has improved in the past seven years?" He asked and Kichiro swallowed, was what he thought was happening actually happening?

"You can count on it sir," He replied as the Firelord approached him, motioning for him to look up and meet his eyes.

"Good, because I have a mission for you Kichiro." The Firelord wasn't playing around, not if he was asking for the head archer to carry out this mission. "Vachir failed his assignment to assassinate a mere peasant, this Kichiro is going to be a much more difficult task. So if you think for one second that you can't handle it, please tell me now." He challenged and Kichiro got the silent prompt to rise and did so.

"What is my mission?" He asked in a voice that told The Firelord that whatever this mission is, he will accept it.

Ozai smirked evilly, "I want you to locate and eliminate Princess Azula."


	8. Chapter 8

When they arrived back at the house Azula was surprised that Sokka didn't force her back up to her bedroom. By this point he was more dragging her than she was walking, as her legs had almost no desire to work anymore. So where she went really was his decision and instead of bringing her up to her room he put her down on the couch in the living room. He didn't say anything as he did it; he just dropped her there and walked out of the room, like this was something normal.

* * *

After Sokka left Azula on the couch, because if Katara is so concerned about her spending time with people then it's probably best she stay there, he was walking through the hallway when he bumped into Suki.

"Sorry," he apologized

"It's alright," She said back and after that the two of them just stood there in a really, really awkward silence.

"So uh, are you ok?" Sokka finally asked, "I heard you and Zuko got into an argument this morning?" He continued

"Yeah I'm fine," Suki responded, truthfully though she was a little worried about Zuko's latest plan for his sister. She knows that she's been the one pushing for a more humanized and caring treatment of Azula, but the idea of having her let her anger out is more than a little scary. "So how was your day with Azula?" She asked, knowing that she probably shouldn't scare Sokka with Zuko's plan when she actually knows so little about it.

"It was… it actually wasn't bad." Sokka found himself saying, he had been expecting his day to be filled with Azula either whining or trying to kill him. But instead she had opted to stay silent, and she stuck it out patiently through the day until her body couldn't take it anymore and she had collapsed outside that last store. "But she was having some trouble walking after awhile," He informed Suki.

"Side effect of the poison wearing off, her bending should come back around tomorrow but it'll be weak for a few days." She explained and Sokka nodded.

"Ok then, uh do you want to do something later?" He asked, figuring he probably should.

"Sure," Suki said, admittedly looking a little surprised.

"Ok, want to just go for a walk on the beach after dinner?" He asked, having nothing planned and this being the best he could come up with on the spot.

But Suki smiled warmly at the idea, "that sounds nice," she agreed and Sokka smiled back.

"Cool, see you then." He said to her before letting her continue on her way to wherever she had been going and he did the same.

But as the two walked away from each other, each had the same thought about their awkward conversation in the hall.

 _What was that?_

* * *

For the most part being in the living room was almost quiet as her bedroom. Of course Azula figured that was probably because Sokka had no doubt told the others he had left her in here, and that prompted them to avoid the room at all costs.

 _As they should,_ she thought somewhat bitterly to herself, though she was at least somewhat proud that she could scare Zuko and his little gang away like this even when she didn't even have enough strength to stand.

But this could not last forever, and eventually Aang was the one who found himself joining the princess in the main room of the house. He had been outside with Toph and Zuko all day, and was exhausted. He had trudged up the steps and entered the room with every intention of crashing on the couch only to find that someone had moved Azula there.

Too tired to trudge all the way up the stairs, the young Avatar settled for just collapsing onto the floor.

"You've looked better," Azula commented

"I've been… training all… all morning." Aang said through his gasps for breath, training all morning is one thing, but training all morning with a frustrated Zuko and Toph is like having a death wish.

"Hm, I admire your persistence Avatar but you're wasting your time." Azula said but Aang just lay there silently. Secretly he was wondering if maybe she was right, maybe this is all pointless?

No, no he can't think like that. He will be able to defeat the Firelord; they will be able to save the world.

He truly believed that, he really did, but he was just far too tired to argue with Azula and so he continued to say nothing. He half expected to hear Azula make some other comments, but apparently she couldn't think of anything to say because she was blessedly quiet. It was only a few minutes later, however, that Aang sensed the footsteps of someone else entering the room and then that someone stopped.

"Um…" Katara's voice trailed off, obviously unsure of what happened in here.

"Don't look at me," Azula snapped, "he came in here like that."

"I just finished training for the day," Aang explained as he forced himself to sit up.

"How are you doing?" Katara asked, approaching Aang and kneeling down on the floor next to him.

"How does it look like he's doing?" Azula sarcastically answered before Aang had the chance. Katara just glared at her angrily but she felt no guilt for the comment, she has to entertain herself somehow.

"I'm doing alright," Aang replied, ignoring Azula who rolled her eyes.

"Doing alright?" She mocked, "Please, if this is what you look like after fight with Zuko, and him holding back, then you stand even less of a chance then I thought against The Firelord." She continued, again Katara glared at her and again she paid little to no attention.

"Come on Aang," Katara said as she helped Aang to his feet and led him off in the direction of the stairs.

Azula had many comments running through her mind about what she could say here, but instead she chose to bite her tongue and just let the two leave the room without her comments following them. Why she did this she truly had no idea, or at least she didn't want to admit it.

* * *

The rest of Azula's day past by slowly and uneventfully, the closest thing to entertainment she had came when Toph wandered in; apparently the little blind girl is the only one around here who can actually take a joke. But considering she and Toph are very far from friends the girl didn't stay long and soon she was back to staring up at the ceiling, feeling nothing but boredom. This lasted until it got to be dinnertime and Zuko walked in.

"Are you coming?" He asked, surprisingly his tone wasn't cold or angry. He didn't seem like asking her to join them at dinner was the last thing he wanted to do, of course he didn't exactly seem thrilled with the notion either. He just sounded like… well almost like any normal brother asking his sister to come join the family for dinner. But course Azula knew better than to think that, Zuko isn't any normal brother, she isn't any normal sister, and this is a far cry from a normal family.

"Sure," she agreed, deciding that since she can now move her arms she would be capable of properly feeding herself.

Zuko held out a hand and although Azula wanted to refuse it her body told her otherwise. She was able to swing her legs over the side of the couch and plant her feet on the ground; but the amount of effort that took told her that getting up totally on her own would not be wise. So she took Zuko's hand and allowed him to pull her up, and he must have felt just how much weight he was actually pulling because he looked doubtful of her ability to stand on her own, never mind move.

"Are you ok?" He asked as Azula let go of his hand.

"Fine, thank you." She spat out and although he still appeared skeptical he turned and headed for the kitchen/dining room, Azula leaning heavily on any object in her path as she followed him.

Though just about everyone made an effort not to look at Azula, with varying degrees of success, Suki couldn't help but eye the princess sympathetically has she entered by practically throwing herself threw the doorway and clinging to a countertop as a crutch. She remembered those days, recovering from multiple doses of that wretched serum. She remembers all too clearly how she would think she was ok, and then within just a few hours it would feel like she was paralyzed again. She remembers willing herself to move, forcing her body around the house and placing all her weight on anything that could hold it. She remembers…

She shook her head; that was one memory she'd much rather forget.

"Are you people always this quiet?" Azula snapped as she sat down in the only empty seat, right between Toph and Zuko.

"I wish," Toph commented, "but it's not going to last; because in about five seconds Sokka will start choking and there goes any silence." She continued.

"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed, obviously offended.

"You know it's true," Toph argued and so while the two of them fought everyone else at the table did their best to ignore them and simply enjoy their dinner.

This was difficult at first, although that was mostly due to Sokka and Toph throwing insults at each other and not stopping until Azula got fed up and flicked some of her rice at Sokka's head.

"Hey!" The water-tribe warrior exclaimed

"Shut up," Azula said but Sokka simply began muttering as he grabbed the majority of his rice off his plate and began molding it into a ball in his hands.

"Sokka, don't you-" but Katara was cut off when her brother chucked the ball of rice at Azula.

But he had overestimated the food's ability to stick together and so it fell apart midair, flying more over Toph than anything else. Toph retaliated this by grabbing her fish and flinging that right at Sokka.

* * *

"Well congrats, you ate dinner with us once and managed to start a food fight." Zuko said, sarcasm coating his voice, as he helped Azula up to her room after dinner.

"Please," Azula scoffed as her brother half put, half dropped, her onto her bed. "I ate dinner with them while you were away on your little revenge mission." She continued, Zuko seemed surprised by this but said nothing as he made his way for the door. But instead of exiting through it like Azula expected him too he simply sighed.

"It could be like this everyday you know," he said, "You don't have to be a prisoner." He pleaded, almost begged, her. But she knew better and scoffed.

"Right, you'd have me join your little gang and become a traitor. No thank you," she said and with that Zuko closed the door and turned around, the look he gave was one that his sister could never forget if she tried.

It was a look of anger; but it was anger mixed with pain and desperation, and the anger didn't seem to be directed at her.

"You know Azula, all these years I thought it was you. I thought you were the ultimate manipulator, I thought you were the one I had to be careful of." He began,

"And what?" Azula asked sarcastically, "me throwing rice at your little pal somehow changed your mind?" She continued but Zuko's face hardened.

"No, but the way you've been acting lately has." He said matter-of-factly.

"Oh really?" Azula asked, "And how have I been acting Zuko?" She questioned, feeling as though this would be simply another thing where Zuko doesn't know what he's talking about.

"Scared," he finally said which Azula had not expected. "I always thought you were showing off in front of dad, trying purposely to outdo me in anything I tried. I always thought it was you pulling the strings, but seeing how scared and lost you are with the idea that you're not going to be able to impress dad makes me realize that it wasn't you. Yeah, you probably were trying to show me up, but only because dad manipulated you into doing so. He's been the one pulling your strings Azula and without him you're finally falling apart-"

"Enough!" Azula shouted; she couldn't listen to another word of this. "Dad is not in control of me, if anything you're trying to manipulate me." She accused but Zuko shook his head.

"I'm trying to give you a choice." He offered, "I'm going to let this poison wear off, and even you know that all six us put together can bring you down long enough to paralyze you again. But if you run, I'll let you." He continued, "Just keep in mind that if you go back you'll be right where dad wants you, and someday you'll realize the only reason you ever wanted power was to be able to prove that you're the best." He finished and with that he left the room and shut the door behind him, leaving Azula alone.

She chucked her pillow at the door, before releasing an almost feral sounding growl as she flopped back on her bed with a thud.

"As usual Zuzu you don't know what you're talking about," she muttered, tears pricking at the edges of her eyes. "You think you know everything," she muttered, still trying to convince herself that nothing Zuko said was true. What could he know anyway? He was gone for three years! Not that those years had been hard of course, in fact they'd been some of the most peaceful of her life. Well except for the day he left of course, that had been one of the worse days of her life. Not because her brother and Uncle had left, but because of the mistake she made that day, because she had disappointed her father.

* * *

 _"You do realize what you're asking of me?" Azula snorted, after being patched up by the family physician and sentenced to banishment by father she figured that Zuko would spend the remainder of his last day in the Fire Nation sulking in his room. But instead he had come to her room, and asked her to go behind father's back._

 _"Don't act like you've never disobeyed him before," The thirteen-year-old snarled._

 _"Only when I knew I wasn't going to get caught, but we all know he'll find out about this one." Azula argued, but Zuko persisted._

 _"The Avatar could be anywhere in the world, I'll never be able to cover enough ground on foot." He argued_

 _"Exactly, father doesn't expect you to." Azula smirked and Zuko growled but said nothing, he had long ago given up trying to convince both her and himself that dad loves him. "But… I suppose it would make things rather interesting, especially if you were to somehow actually succeed." She thoughtfully continued before giving a sigh of agreement. "I'll talk to Commander Shinu, he probably knows where to find an old ship that nobody wants." She agreed and Zuko smiled his big goofy smile that she hated so much._

 _"Thank you Azula," he said and she just rolled her eyes_

 _Of course she had been successful in securing an old ship for Zuko and her Uncle, as well as few crewmembers that clearly have nothing better to do with their lives. In her opinion the whole thing was a lot more trouble than it was worth, but father said nothing when his son boarded the ship at the docks. Due to this Azula thought he might actually let this one slide, but when they arrived home it was a different story._

 _He turned to her with a face full of disappointment, and her heart sank into her stomach with fear._

 _"Let Zuko's banishment be a lesson to you Azula," he said in a deadly calm voice. "Standing against me will have serious consequences, I know it was you who arranged for that ship. Go behind my back again, and you'll find yourself wishing you were in Zuko's position." The he just walked off, leaving her there in the hallway._

 _She had never said it aloud, but she knew that he doesn't love Zuko and that, that had been her first clue that maybe he doesn't love her._

* * *

It was the middle of the night and Kichiro stood poised in a high branch of a tree just outside the Firelord's beach house, aim set at the open bedroom window of the princess. She was asleep, and Kichiro was debating on how exactly to kill her. An arrow to either the heart or the throat would do the job, but this was all too easy. He wanted that spoiled brat to know who had ordered this. So he decided that an arrow to the ankle would both wake her up and prevent her from getting away. An arrow to the shoulder would stop her from fire bending at him, and an arrow to the opposite wrist would do the same should she try with the other hand. Then all he would have to do is tell her who wished this upon her, her own father, and then kill her with an arrow to the throat before anyone could come and stop him.

So he began.

He shot an arrow first to her right ankle as he leapt through the window. Kichiro had to admit that he was impressed the princess awoke even before the arrow made contact, but she was still not fast enough to stop the sharp tip from piercing her ankle. She screamed out in pain as he fired the second arrow into her left shoulder. She continued screaming and moved to fire bend with her other arm but before Kichiro could fire his third arrow he realized that for whatever reason she could not bend; and he smirked.

"Now don't shoot the messenger," he joked as he notched what would be his final arrow. "This is from The Firelord," and with that he fired.


	9. Chapter 9

Kichiro fired his final arrow at Azula's throat, and it would've made its mark too, if an unnatural ball of air hadn't turned it around. Instead it came flying back at the master archer, who was quick and dodged it, so it stuck harmlessly in the wall. He barely even had time to turn before strong path of fire nearly burned his left foot.

"Get away from my sister!" An angry voice ordered, obviously prince Zuko.

But Kichiro wouldn't give up so easily, this time firing an arrow at the prince with lightning speed. But Zuko just managed to dodge the arrow and as he did Sokka, who like Aang had heard the commotion in the room down the hall and come to see what was going on, threw his boomerang at the attacker. But Kichiro dodged the boomerang, however he was so preoccupied by the flying object that he was completely unaware of Azula reaching her foot out to trip him until it was too late. So now he was lying on the floor with Sokka's blade at his throat.

"I'm trying to do you boys a favor," he tried to reason, "her death would be a great help to you as well as The Firelord!" He all but shouted; Zuko barely even noticed the girls coming up the stairs while he marched further into the room and moved Sokka aside, picking up Kichiro by the collar of his shirt. Using his other hand Zuko ripped the quiver of arrows from the archer's back.

"Tell The Firelord that if he EVER tries to hurt his daughter again he's going to have to deal with me," He seethed through gritted teeth.

"The Firelord isn't afraid of a bunch of kids," Kichiro smirked but this only prompted Zuko to get even more in his face.

"He will be," he sneered before all but throwing the archer back out the window from whence he came, knowing he would be able to catch himself and climb down the tree.

Zuko then turned to Azula; while he was dealing with the attacker Katara had rushed in to help the injured princess, and just as he turned she yelped in pain. Katara had removed the arrow from her ankle, and Sokka was sitting beside her with one hand on her good shoulder and the other cupping her clenched fist, as if he was trying to help her. She didn't look too happy about it but she also seemed to realize that she was far from being in a position to argue.

"This one is going to hurt a lot more," Katara warned as she placed the first arrow onto the floor.

"I'm beginning to miss being paralyzed," Azula commented and Suki cringed from where she still stood in the doorway, remembering how much her body had ached when recovering from the serum. She couldn't even imagine the pain in having arrows removed from her flesh on top of that.

But Katara gave a small smile, seemingly happy to hear Azula still making her usual comments. She gripped the arrow and just at that Azula cringed in pain, as she did her fists clenched tighter and Zuko noticed that in return Sokka's grip on her closed hand also tightened. He realized that his friend really was trying to help Azula. He was trying to hold her hand and give her a release for the pain, and like the stubborn person she is Azula wasn't letting him.

A part of him wanted to tell her to be grateful for Sokka's kindness and accept it, but another part of him knew that he couldn't. So he just looked away as Katara quickly removed the second arrow and then took her water pouch and began attempting to heal the wounds.

"We should go," He heard Suki say to Aang and Toph, as the three of them were still standing in the doorway. They left and shut the door behind them, leaving Zuko to take in the scene before him.

His sister and his friends were sitting on the floor, Sokka more or less holding Azula up as Katara worked. It seemed that the water bender was torn between which of the injuries to deal with first. The wound in Azula's shoulder was deep and bad, but the archer had been smart and very well trained, and his shot to her ankle was messy and the blood was hard to stop. Without a word Zuko opened the door and hurried from the room, quickly making his way to the bathroom and then returning with three towels. When he got back Katara was focusing mainly on Azula's ankle so he moved to press one towel to her shoulder, but she used the hand of her good arm to snatch it away.

"I can handle it myself," she sneered, pressing the towel against her injured shoulder. "Thank you," she said in the same cold tone, but Zuko said nothing.

"Hey, he's trying to-"

"Sokka," Zuko cut his friend off, it may not have sounded like it but that was a genuine thank you from Azula, something that is very rare and he didn't want to spoil.

He instead crouched down beside Katara and began wiping up the blood around the wound she was trying to heal, to which the water bender gave a grateful smile.

"So was this your plan Zuko?" Azula finally asked

The room fell silent for a moment.

"What?" Zuko finally questioned, totally confused.

"Was this your plan?" She asked again, "Hire an assassin to nearly take me out and tell me he was sent by father, therefor leaving me no choice but to join your group?" She questioned and again the room became quiet, no one knew what to say to that.

"What? No!" Zuko quickly defended, once he got over the initial shock of the accusation that is.

"So I suppose father just conveniently ordered someone to kill me on the same night you were trying to convince me to join your little group?" She asked and Zuko growled.

"I was offering you a choice Azula!" He all but shouted

"And now you're trying to force me into it!" Azula exclaimed, moving like she would've tried lunging forward to attack her brother but Sokka held her back.

"Hey, hey!" Katara cut in, also trying to restrain Azula. "Zuko would never hire somebody to attack you like that." She continued firmly.

"How would you know?" Azula snarled, "If memory serves it was only a few days ago that you didn't trust him!" She continued, "Besides, didn't he hire a combustion bender to attack you?" She asked and Zuko didn't even want to know how she found out about that.

Katara looked down, seemingly not having an answer and not saying a word as she quickly finished bandaging the princess's ankle. She then moved to work on her shoulder but Sokka caught her wrist and stopped her.

"You're tired, and magic healing water isn't going to do anything for a wound like this, I'll patch her up." He said and although he half expected his sister to scold him for referring to her bending as magic she instead just placed what was left of the bandages down and got to her feet, exiting the room with Zuko not far behind her.

Sokka moved for the bandages, but once he had them he quickly realized one giant problem with his plan. He couldn't exactly bandage over her shirt, but no way was he going to even try removing the garment.

"Oh for crying out loud," Azula all but snapped as she took off her shirt, ignoring the pain it caused in her shoulder. She was wearing a strapless wrapping around her chest so she really didn't care about taking her shirt off. But when Sokka still refused to do anything she used her good arm and snatched the bandages from his hand. She only got about one and a half strips around herself before Sokka snatched the bandages back and finally began wrapping her shoulder.

"I suppose you're going to keep up Zuko's little charade and try and convince me that he really did have nothing to do with this, and it really was just a coincidence that the three of you made it in here in time to stop him." She accused as Sokka did his best with the bandaging, although clearly first aid is not his strongest skill.

"Actually I was just going to say you're delusional." He said, "And for the record, we got here in time to save you because Zuko's room is right across the all while mine and Aang's is around the corner." He pointed out.

"I see, and now your plan is to convince me I'm crazy?" She questioned, though Sokka couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

"Crazy and delusional are two different things," he said

"Whatever," Azula scoffed but Sokka kept going, for whatever reason he was determined to get Azula's head straight.

"Look, I get what it's like to want to be exactly like your father. I get what it's like to trail behind him like a lost fire ferret and I get what it's like to sit around making any excuse you can think of not to hate him for even a minute, because you know that if you allow yourself to do that you might open a rift you can't close." He said and judging by the way Azula's body became slightly less tense he knew that, painful as this route is, it's a way to get through to her. "I know how it feels to wonder what would become of you if you ever lost your dad, be it due to battle or your own actions leading you away, it's terrifying. But you need to ask yourself if you want to be like him because you believe in him, or because you've never had another choice." He stated as he finished wrapping her shoulder.

Surprisingly she said nothing; she just sat there silently against him. Eventually he decided that it was time they both got to bed so he scooped her up bridal style and placed her back in her bed. As he was leaving he turned back and looked at her one last time.

"Goodnight," he said.

* * *

Zuko didn't sleep that night.

All these years, he's wondered about that night so long ago, when he was a child.

Would he have done it?

He isn't stupid; he knows that his mother's disappearance and his grandfather's death occurring on the same night is no coincidence. Especially after his father told him that his mother did treasonous things that night. That was the night Azula claimed their father was going to kill him. The night his mom woke him and told him that everything she had done, she had done to protect him. Back then he swore it was a dream, but then she was gone in the morning, and he knew it wasn't.

So he had spent most of his life wondering if his father really would've killed him that night, or if whatever his mom did it was because of something else.

Now he had no doubts.

Ozai would've taken his life that night had he not been stopped, and spirits only know what Ursa had to do to stop him. But tonight he tried to take the life of Azula, his little prodigy, and that made Zuko's stomach turn. She had been the only thing, apart from power, that Ozai had ever cared about. But if he was willing to kill her, then he's even less human than Zuko ever gave him credit for.

* * *

Zuko wasn't the only one who was having trouble sleeping.

Just across the hall Azula was lying awake on her bed, though admittedly it was mostly due to physical pain that she couldn't sleep. She was thinking about not only the attack, but also what she had been told afterwards.

 _"Who knew the ice peasant had daddy issues?"_ She thought to herself, but that was honestly the least of her concerns right now.

A part of her, actually most of her, knew that he was right. First off she could recognize the skill of a Yuyan archer anywhere, and that attacker certainly was one. Zuko never could've gotten in contact with them, let alone convinced one to try and take her out. But her father on the other hand, yeah he was beyond capable of that. To be honest this shouldn't have surprised her; after all it was her father who taught her to always make sure she was one step ahead of everybody.

Everybody except for him.

He knew what he was doing with her, Zuko had been his mistake; the child he didn't get to soon enough. But her? He had been manipulating her since day one. Zuko he allowed to spend more time with their mother, and as a result created a child that he could not corrupt. So with her he monopolized her time. He put her to bed at night, he brought her with him to important meetings, and he made her feel important. He taught her his game, he taught her every single move of his mind game, she couldn't even deny that he taught her his own. He showed her how to generate lightning, how limits are only an illusion, and he was well aware that she knew he was teaching her. As long as she knew he was actively trying to teach her something, she never suspected that he was simultaneously using certain lessons against her.

* * *

It was the very early hours of the morning, the sun hadn't even come up yet, but Zuko couldn't stare at this ceiling for another minute. He considered waking Aang for some early practice, but knew that not only does the kid need his sleep but also that he can't go make him train extra early just because HE couldn't sleep. There is only one other person in the entire house who Zuko considered might actually be awake at this early hour, and he also decided that it's probably best he give talking to her another shot before the others wake up. So he rose from his bed and exited his room, creeping across the hall to the room of his sister. He only opened her door a crack, but she heard it and turned her head to look, much too casually to have been sleeping.

So Zuko opened the door and entered her room, closing the door behind him. Azula pushed herself into a sitting position on her bed; suddenly grateful her torso hadn't been injured last night.

"How are you?" Zuko asked, noticing that the job Sokka had done on her shoulder was rather haphazard. He also noticed that her shirt was lying discarded on the floor and she was presently wearing only her chest band and blood soaked bandages on her upper body.

A naturally protective side of him suddenly had the urge to go murder Sokka in his sleep. But another, much more rational, part of him could understand that bandaging over her shirt would not have worked and judging by the difference in craftsmanship Azula had probably done the lower half herself, besides it started above her chest anyway. This being said Zuko still went and grabbed the blood covered shirt from the floor and handed it to Azula.

"I'll find you another shirt later, but please put this back on for now." He said with a slight cringe, Azula snatched up the shirt and was more than willing to put up with the pain of moving her shoulder to get back into it.

Once that was done they was nothing but silence between the two siblings, before Azula finally gathered the nerve to speak.

"I know it was him," she confessed, Zuko looked at her curiously but she just kept her eyes glued to the ground. "I know you're going to say this is just another one of my tricks but… it's not." She said, finally meeting his surprised gaze. "I know that doesn't mean anything," she said solemnly, again looking away.

Now Zuko moved and crouched down in front of her, after everything she's right. A part of him does think this is just another one of her tricks, and he doesn't know if he can trust her. But he is not about to let the chance slip through his fingers.

"It took awhile for the others to trust me," he admitted to her, "They aren't going to trust you just like that." He warned but her face didn't change.

"You don't trust me just like that, why would I expect them to?" She asked, looking down at her lap and rubbing her hands along the back of her neck.

Looking at her yesterday, Zuko had thought he saw a scared little girl. But now, now she seemed so much older. Her body was far past tired and what he saw of her eyes were haunted, and now they were both realizing just how long she has been alone in the world. She's never trusted anyone except for their father, and now it's starting to destroy her.

"If you're sincere-" he began

"I am, Zuko." She cut him off, meeting his skeptical gaze with her hard and determined one, her voice serious as he ever heard it.

He gave her a small smile and reached out to take her hand. Her face may not have softened, but his did.

"Then you've got me on your side."


	10. Chapter 10

Once Katara woke up she went upstairs and tried to do some work on Azula's shoulder, as well as some more work on her ankle, but only so much could be done. Despite her efforts Azula would still be barely able to move without a crutch. Katara had to stitch up both the wounds and although Azula's bending did return it hardly mattered; she was in too much pain to actually use it.

"Zuko went into town, he said he was going to bring back some new clothes for you." Katara said at an attempt of conversation as she stitched up the wound on her patient's ankle, having already done all she could for her shoulder.

"It'll be interesting to see what he brings back," Azula mumbled and Katara giggled at the comment.

"Don't worry, Suki went with him." She assured the fire bender; apparently a brother's inability to pick out clothes for his sister is a universal thing because the water bender would never trust Sokka to do so for her.

"Oh great," Azula groaned before mentally scolding herself for saying that, her attitude was going to need a lot of work. "Sorry," She apologized and Katara did nothing more but just look at her for a moment; like she couldn't believe that word had just come out of her mouth.

"It's ok," she finally said, clearly not knowing what else to say.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside, Toph was helping Aang work on his earth bending. Zuko had told them all this morning that Azula decided that she was going to try and change, and this was something that Toph couldn't quite figure out her feelings about.

"So what do you think about Azula trying to switch sides?" She questioned while chucking some sand balls at Aang, training was also a time for her to practice her sand bending.

"It'd be good to have her on our side, that's for sure." He agreed, destroying the giant balls in midair whilst doing his best not to let the scattering remains blind him, again.

"Yeah, but do you think she'll really change?" The master earth bender skeptically questioned.

"Weren't you the one on Zuko's side when he suddenly decided to change?" Aang asked, sending a wave of sand at his teacher.

Toph manipulated Aang's wave and sent it back at him, effectively sending him flying into the air. He took control of this and cushioned his landing back on the ground with his air bending.

"Zuko had three years not only away from his father but also spent traveling with his uncle, he had time. Azula changing is going to be a lot harder." She pointed out,

"She wants to change, it's a start." Aang responded and Toph shook her head.

"Always the optimist twinkle-toes, well almost always." She said with a smirk before they continued their training session.

* * *

When Suki and Zuko returned later that afternoon Suki went upstairs and gave Azula the clothes they had found. Azula found that she didn't completely hate the clothes; they were a pair of dark gray, lightweight, pants, a red skirt, and a matching red turtleneck tank top. They had also bought her a pair of red sandals. Suki asked if she needed any help getting dressed but after insisting that she was fine on her own the Kyoshi Warrior left Azula alone in the room.

Once she had the clothes on Azula found that the tank top both exposed her midriff and covered most of her bandages, both of which she liked. However her hair was still a knotted mess and so, after sneaking off to the bathroom to use the mirror yet again, she tried to do something with it. But yet again such a task was proving to be completely and utterly hopeless! She was almost about to start looking for some scissors to cut it when there was a knock on the door. Her better judgment told her to tell whomever it was to go away, but instead she opened the door and found Sokka standing there.

"Sorry, I didn't know someone was in there." He apologized awkwardly.

"I was just trying to fix my hair," Azula admitted as she walked, well limped considering she had forgotten her crutch, out of the room.

"Why don't you ask Katara for help?" He suggested, he may not know much about doing hair but it was clear to him that neither does Azula.

"What makes you think she'd know anything?" Azula questioned

"Hey we grew up in the south pole where not only do we brush our hair with fish bones; it also freezes, gets coated in snow, salt water, and even sea-prune juice on a daily basis. Plus I'm pretty sure her hair is longer than yours, she should be able to do something." He defended smugly and Azula rolled her eyes.

"Alright fine, you made your point. I'll go talk to her." She said and with that she limped into her room, grabbed her crutch, and limped away towards the stairs.

She could feel Sokka's eyes on her, watching as she attempted to hobble down the wooden steps without losing her balance or misplacing her crutch. But she could do it, after days of breaking down nearly every night no way was she going to give the water tribe peasant the satisfaction of watching her fall flat on her face.

* * *

Since returning to the house Zuko had joined Toph and Aang outside, and despite Zuko's attempts to keep going the three were now taking a break.

"I know we're training for the biggest battle of our lives and all, but chill out, you need to let him take a break sometime." Toph lectured has Aang practically fell over on the rocky steps they used for seats.

"Sorry, I just got a lot on my mind." Zuko apologized

"What you need is a distraction, and I think Aang is far past providing one." Toph continued, "Want to go a few rounds with me?" She offered, clearly she was itching for a fight and with Aang's primary focus being on fire bending lately she wasn't getting anything out of that.

But much to her dismay Zuko shook his head and began heading for the door leading back into the house.

"No, I don't think this is the kind of stress you need to get out by fighting." He answered but when he got back into the house the sight that greeted him was something her never, ever, would've expected.

He had walked into the kitchen, where is sister sat in a chair with a rather annoyed and understandably embarrassed look on her face, as Katara stood behind her trying to comb through her hair. Zuko had seen Ty Lee do Azula's hair before, but he never thought much of it because, well, it's Ty Lee. Ty Lee can sometimes seem like she's a six-year-old trapped in the body of a fourteen-year-old, and is still innocent enough to be able to beg to experiment with her friends' hair. But this, this is Katara and Azula. Azula would never, as far as Zuko is concerned, ask someone other than a servant to do her hair; too much pride. As for Katara, well Zuko didn't exactly think she'd ever offer to do such a thing. So yeah, he was completely lost as to how the scene before him had come to be. That aside he knew it would be best not to ruin it, and so he just continued on his way as though he hadn't stood in the doorway with his sister glaring back at him for an uncomfortable amount of time.

* * *

The next few days for Azula were… interesting. She was trying her best to fit in as something other than a prisoner, but such things are easier said than done. She was finding that she hated being around Zuko the most, despite him having said to be on her side. She just couldn't help but feel that he was watching and waiting for her to mess up, like this was all some kind of test. Fortunately for her Zuko was normally too busy training the Avatar to worry about what she was doing, however it was obvious that he was constantly listening to make sure that she wasn't getting into trouble. But to be honest she wasn't getting into trouble, she was genuinely trying to trust these people. Trust, it's not something that she had ever been particularly familiar with. Sure she trusted her father, but look where that got her. He's the one who taught her that trust is for fools; that if you trust you are weak. But if she's really going to make him regret trying to kill her, and she will, then she can't do it under his philosophy.

She didn't know it, or maybe she did and just wouldn't say so, but she was taking small steps into trusting. Katara was the most obvious, considering she was the healer of the group Azula had no choice but to trust her. It didn't take long for her to understand why Toph and occasionally Sokka will jokingly refer to the water bender as 'mom'; she clearly was the mother out of the bunch. Due to her injuries Azula was spending most of her time with Katara, trying to get herself healed before the comet; and she still didn't know if she was actually going to partake in that battle or not. Katara was also able to teach Azula how to do her hair on her own, something that Azula was silently grateful for.

Aside from this she also found that it while it did take a few days for her to be comfortable with, talking with the others wasn't as hard as she would've thought. She soon learned that Toph was an easy enough person to get along with; the blind girl was very easy going and enjoyed finding ways to torture her friends. Azula actually thought it was interesting the way Toph could be both aggressive and a nice person at the same time, although when her earth bending attacks started to get a little harsher and Azula's comments became slightly more personal Zuko began to question who the bad influence was in that friendship. Azula also found herself hanging out with Sokka, when he wasn't off with Suki that is. She was having a difficult time understanding the relationship between those two; based on the way Suki had spoken about him when she was put in person, and the way Sokka had been willing to risk everything to find her, she had assumed that the two would've been all over each other now that they've reunited. Not to say that they aren't close, because they are, but they sometimes something just seemed off. However Azula never paid much attention to it, she has far greater things to worry about than the love lives of Zuko's friends.

Her fire bending quickly became one of those things.

A few days after the attack Azula found herself still in pain but healed enough to fire bend, or she thought she was anyway. She awoke at sunrise, the last thing she needed was someone catching her practicing and giving her some kind of lecture. So she was quick to get dressed and do her hair in a half up-half down style, something she was starting to find herself doing everyday now, before sneaking out of her room and into the back courtyard.

She didn't know how long she would have, so she made a small flame quickly. She reveled in the feeling of bending again. Sure she could've been bending during the past few days, but only with one arm it would've barely been worth it. Bending when you can't even do it properly hardly compares to bending at your full potential. So since she had no reason to try bending with just one arm she had opted to let herself heal, and now that she could not only use her other shoulder but also walk with nothing more than a slight limp she was healed enough. She began with a simple, basic, technique. She preformed every motion flawlessly, and yet at the end produced nothing more than a measly spark. Although she was very confused at first she brushed it off and assumed that after being paralyzed for so long and then letting herself heal she was probably just out of practice. So she tried the technique again, and again, and again. But still nothing.

* * *

Zuko didn't know what time it was, though he knew it was still very early, when he awoke to the sound of screaming. It wasn't the type of screaming he normally would've expected in the situation they're in. Instead it was a very frustrated sounding set of growls, and when he looked out his window he found the source. Azula was down in the courtyard fire bending, or attempting to anyway. She didn't look like she was having much luck, and her obvious frustration wasn't helping her. With a sigh Zuko got up, although he wasn't really sure why. It's not like there's anything he can do for his sister, her bending was probably only weak because she was still recovering from the attack a few nights ago. But he still got dressed for the day and went down there, when he got there however he was surprised by what he saw.

From his window he hadn't been able to see Azula's face, and now that he could, he saw that she was more than just frustrated. She was scared. She was shouting out in a wild frustration as she angrily threw fire, not that it was anything more than little spurts of flames. Tears were pricking at the edges of her eyes and she was practically shaking as she screamed and lashed out in all directions, she didn't even notice Zuko until he had his arms around her.

"Let me go! Let me go!" She screamed as he restrained her, pinning her arms to her sides so that she couldn't burn him.

"Tell me what's going on," Zuko demanded but Azula acted as though she hadn't heard him and just kept struggling.

"Let go of me! Let go!" She continued as she squirmed and so finally Zuko released her.

She hadn't expected him to let her go, not in this state anyway, so when he did she stumbled forward. Once she caught her balance she turned around to see Zuko standing with his hands raised as if in surrender.

"Alright, now tell me what's going on." He asked of her in as calm a voice as he could manage.

"Believe me Zuzu I'd love to," she said, "but the problem is I have no idea." She explained but Zuko only looked at her to continue, and with a sigh she did. "That pathetic excuse for fire is all I seem to be able to make, it's like I've lost my bending." She admitted fearfully. "And don't try to tell me it's because I'm hurt, I've been hurt before and this has never happened." She quickly said but to her surprise Zuko smiled at her.

"It's not your shoulder, it's because you switched sides." He told her but she only looked at him as though he was insane.

"I'm sorry, come again?" She asked and Zuko chuckled, despite the fact that Azula couldn't see what it was about this situation that he could possibly find humorous.

"After I switched sides my anger dissipated, and I basically lost my ability to fire bend. You're trying to open yourself up, and trying to change. Without your anger consuming you, you don't have the power to fuel your bending." He explained as he took a step closer to her.

"Well if that's it then problem solved, I still have plenty of anger that I can turn back on." She said but Zuko frowned.

"That's not a good idea. I can show you another way to bend, one that doesn't destroy you on the inside." He offered and Azula snorted in response,

"And where did you learn a technique like that?" She asked; Zuko only smiled in response.

"Some old friends of Uncle." He answered and Azula did her best to suppress a laugh.

"It isn't bad enough that were subjected to three years with him? You had to go track down his friends too?" She teased before actually considering the idea, "Alright fine, I'll let you show me; but on one condition." She agreed and Zuko found himself frowning again.

"What is it?" He asked and Azula smirked

"No one outside of this house ever finds out," she sneered and now it was Zuko's turn to suppress a laugh.


	11. Chapter 11

Azula picked up on the new way of fire bending almost as quickly as she had picked up the aggressive style she learned as a child. She trained every day with Zuko and Aang, which definitely took some getting used to for all involved but once that was accomplished it became very effective.

So that's what they were doing, training, when Suki and Sokka returned from their trip into town. Well actually they had just finished training, but that's beside the point.

"You guys are not going to believe it! There's a play about us!" Sokka exclaimed, a huge smile lighting up his face.

"Must be one depressing play," Azula commented and instantly Sokka's face fell, she of course couldn't help but smirk in amusement when he growled in frustration.

"We were just in town and we found this poster," Suki happily announced, ignoring Azula's comment and reigniting her boyfriend's exuberance.

Sokka then produced said poster from behind his back.

"What? How is that possible?" Katara questioned

"You're kidding right?" Azula asked in sarcasm from where she had taken a seat on the edge of the old fountain, far enough away from where Zuko sat of course. But when everyone looked at her she discovered that clearly Katara wasn't kidding, and sighed. "You nitwits have traveled all over the world while evading some of the most well trained soldiers in the Fire Nation, not to mention until Aang resurfaced the world thought the Avatar cycle was broken." She explained, "Do you really think there isn't going to be one wannabe play write that tries to make a few silver pieces off the story?" She asked and so without a word everyone then turned their attention back over to Sokka who began reading the description of the play.

"Brought to you by the critically acclaimed Ember Island Players." Suki added at the end, this information caused both Zuko and Azula to groan.

"Our mother used to take us to see them; they butchered Love Amongst the Dragons every year." Zuko explained.

"Butchered is putting it nicely," Azula agreed.

"Sokka, do you really think it's a good idea for us to attend a play about ourselves?" Katara questioned her brother, not heading the warning of how terrible the acting was bound to be.

"Come on a day at the theater, this is the kind of wacky, time wasting nonsense I've been missing!" The non-bender exclaimed with a very large, very sheepish, grin. He knew he was going out a limb here, knew that this was neither the time nor the place for such an activity, but he just couldn't help himself.

"It does sound fun, and we could all use a break from worrying about the comet. At the theater we can just take a couple hours to relax and enjoy the show." Aang said in support of the idea.

"Plus there isn't much to do around the house, and we can only walk around town so many times before people start to notice us." Toph added and so Katara gave in.

"Alright, why not." She said and so as the others all headed inside to get cleaned up, Zuko and Azula just exchanged looks of misery.

"Well, at least it isn't Love Amongst the Dragons for the hundredth time." Zuko said in an attempt to make tonight's event more sound exciting, but it didn't even convince him, much less his sister.

"Hooray," She said with about as much enthusiasm as a dead snail.

* * *

So, much to the dismay of Azula and Zuko, they all went to the theater that night. Walking in Azula couldn't help but be hit by a wave of old memories of when she came here as a child. However, back then they had always come in early with others from the upper class and had been shown straight to their seats. Never before had she actually seen the lobby of the theater, or lingered around waiting for the show to start. There were children running around everywhere, and she tried not to pay attention as Katara and Sokka argued about where they all should sit. Instead, she just stood there leaning against a wall, watching the different arguments among different people in the lobby.

"I know it's a little weird being back here," Zuko's words snapped her out of her thoughts.

"The only thing weird about it is not having mom yelling at me every five seconds," She scoffed and Zuko sighed as he joined her against the wall.

"Mom loved both of us Azula," He tried to tell her but she just stared at the ground. She'd been doing a lot of thinking lately, for more than a few days she hadn't really been able to do anything else, and she'd come to the decision that she probably wasn't the best child, to say the least.

"Can we please not do this here?" She asked of Zuko, _"Can we please just be normal for one night?"_ Is what she was really thinking.

Zuko nodded, and that was when Katara came and informed them that the others were ready to go inside.

They went in and quickly found two vacant benches way in the back of the theater; perfect for a group that doesn't want to be seen. On the first bench Toph took the end seat, Azula claimed the spot next to her, Katara took the next seat, and Zuko sat down on the other end just a split second before Aang could.

"Um, I wanted to sit there." Aang said as Sokka and Suki filed into the bench behind their friends.

"Just sit next to Sokka, what's the big deal?" Zuko questioned

"Well… I wanted to… ok." Aang said in defeat and as he trudged back to the second bench Azula did her best to hold in a laugh, unlike her idiot brother she had caught onto what the twelve-year-old had intended to do during the show.

"Why are we sitting in the nosebleed section?" Toph asked, breaking the awkwardness. "My feet can't see a thing from up here!" She continued.

"Lucky," Azula muttered but it went ignored.

"Don't worry, we'll tell your feet everything that's going on." Katara promised and Azula mentally swore that if Katara started narrating the entire play then she was going to go back and switch seats with Aang.

Just then the curtain opened, revealing two actors dressed in Water Tribe garb pretending to row a canoe through the ocean. At the sight of this Sokka grasped his sister's shoulder to get her attention and then proceeded to point excitedly from himself to the stage. Meanwhile Azula was already annoyed with the play; the actors appeared to be about thirty-something years old, they couldn't have at least gotten actors remotely close to the right age?

"Sokka, my only brother, we constantly roam these icy South Pole seas and yet never do we find anything fulfilling." The actress portraying Katara said dramatically, so clearly the Ember Island Players haven't improved at all in the past seven years.

"All I want is a full feeling in my stomach, I'm starving!" The actor Sokka exclaimed, for whatever reason most of the audience actually found that funny.

The following exchange between the two actors involved a repeat of the only joke actor Sokka had told so far, and a near sobbing breakdown of Katara.

"Well that's just silly, I don't sound like that!" Katara claimed, obviously repulsed not only by the actress's portrayal of her, but also by Sokka, Suki, and Toph's hysterical giggling.

"I don't know; she is inflicting the same kind of pain listening to you causes." Azula teased and while Toph doubled over in laughter at the comment Katara glared angrily at Azula.

Just then a moving ice mountain on the stage lit up, with the silhouette of Aang at the top. It was in that moment that the play looked as though is could come back from its rocky start, and it was in the next moment that it just plunged even further into the abyss of stupidity.

The good news is that unlike the Sokka and Katara actors this one appeared to be somewhere close to the right age, the bad news is that the production crew didn't even attempt to hide the fact that she is a woman.

"I don't do that! That's not what I'm like!" Aang defended after his on stage counterpart tricked stage Sokka by pointing to the sky and claiming to see meat. "And I'm not a woman!" He added

"Oh they nailed you twinkle-toes!" Toph howled with laughter, Azula also couldn't help but giggle because in all truth, the stupidity of this was hilarious. She thought that this portrayal of Aang would be the only thing in the play that she found funny, but then the counterparts of Zuko and Uncle came on.

"Prince Zuko, you must try this cake!" The actor of Uncle exclaimed

"I don't have time to stuff my face! I must capture the Avatar to regain my honor!" Actor Zuko dramatically exclaimed and upon hearing that Azula doubled over laughing hysterically. Of course she felt Zuko's hard eyes on her but she couldn't care less, this was too good.

Shaking his head Zuko turned his attention away from his sister, knowing there was nothing he could say that would shut her up.

"They make me look totally stiff and humorless," He instead commented.

"Actually I think that actor's pretty spot on," Katara said with an amused grin.

"How could you say that?" Zuko demanded in surprise. Just at that moment the actor portraying Iroh said something that he didn't quite catch, but he heard the other actor's response loud and clear.

"How could you say that?" He bellowed, Zuko's face fell in defeat, Katara smirked, and Azula laughed so hard she nearly fell onto the floor.

The play continued through the discovery of Momo, the gang meeting Suki when Sokka apparently ended up in her uniform.

"Not one word," Sokka whispered to Azula before she could laugh or make any comments.

It also got through what appeared to have been a very bizarre trip to Omashu, and a run in with pirates before it got to Zuko having actually captured the Avatar. Azula watched this scene with interest; she never knew that her brother apparently did capture Aang for all of five minutes. She wondered what could've saved Aang, as it was established that Sokka and Katara were sick. She had expected the Avatar State, not for the Blue Spirit to come dancing on stage wielding twin broadswords. Now this confused her, because as a child Zuko once took up the broadswords to try and compensate for his poor fire bending and if memory serves he was pretty good. She also knows that he owns a replica mask of the Blue Spirit, and that he took it with him when he was banished. As the spirit rescued the Avatar on stage Azula looked past Katara and at Zuko for an explanation, but her brother already had a hand over his eyes.

The next interesting thing came when the stage versions of Sokka and the Moon Spirit appeared to be on a date. Azula turned around to see that in response to the scene Suki was giggling and Sokka was crying.

"You never told me you made out with the Moon Spirit," Suki commented

"Shh, I'm trying to watch." Sokka's squeaked out, Azula figured it best not to comment.

* * *

"So far this intermission is the best part of the play." Zuko commented bluntly when they were all sitting out in the hallway of the theater.

"Apparently the play write thinks I'm an idiot who tells bad jokes about meat all the time!" Sokka angrily complained as he took a seat on the steps.

"You're not?" Azula commented and while Sokka growled Suki giggled in response.

"Yeah, you tell bad jokes about plenty of other topics." She added

"I know!" He shouted in agreement.

"At least the Sokka actor kind of looks like you! That woman playing the Avatar doesn't resemble me at all!" Aang whined

"I don't know, you are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys." Toph replied,

"Besides she has brown eyes, a shaved head, and is barely five feet tall, yeah nothing like you at all." Azula teased and Aang growled at her.

"Relax Aang, they're not accurate portrayals. It's not like I'm a preachy crybaby who can't resist giving over-emotional speeches about hope all the time." Katara said; it was clear that everyone was fighting the urge to prove her wrong in that statement.

"To be fair it did take that actor half the time Katara takes to make me want to rip my own ears off." Azula finally said.

"Listen friends, it's obvious that the play write did his research. I know it must hurt but what you're seeing up there on that stage is the truth." Toph said

"She's right," Azula agreed and as he stood up Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Let's see if you two still feel that way once they bring you in." He said.

* * *

Not even ten minutes later they were back in their seats, and Toph was getting excited at the mention of finding an earth-bending teacher.

"This is it! This must be where I come in!" She exclaimed, practically bouncing in her seat. "Here it comes!" She said as she leaned over the rail in order to hear better.

On the stage a prop boulder rose out of the ground, and from under it came a man who had to be close to seven feet tall, with arms the size of watermelons, dressed in Toph's signature outfit.

"You can't find an earth bending master in the sky! You need to look underground!" He explained as he threw the boulder off stage.

The entire group busted out laughing, except for Zuko who just dropped the program he was reading in complete and utter shock. Toph leaned even further over the rail and began picking at her ear to make sure she was hearing correctly.

"Wait a minute, I sound like a guy. A really buff guy." She stated.

Katara leaned over Azula with a smug grin on her face; no way was she letting this opportunity for payback get away.

"Well Toph what you hear up there is the truth. It hurts doesn't it?" She asked but Toph's face was already lit up in a huge grin as she sat back down.

"Are you kidding me?" She asked, "I wouldn't have cast it any other way!" She exclaimed and although that didn't surprise Azula it did make her laugh harder.

The actor Toph then explained that he sees by releasing a sonic wave from his mouth, and proceeded to scream in the faces of the other actors. Azula wondered if maybe that would tick off Toph, but the blind earth bender seemed to be the only person in the whole building who didn't find the idea utterly ridiculous.

Next was Uncle and Zuko splitting up, which according to the play happened because Zuko refused to cut his hair.

Then came Azula's entrance.

The scene showed the actor versions of Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph being chased across the stage by cardboard tank.

"We're never going to outrun that thing!" Actor Sokka exclaimed

"Don't worry! You guys keep going, I'll lead it away!" Aang's counterpart said heroically.

"Be careful Aang!" The actress Katara practically cried, the group then split and while Katara, Sokka, and Toph ran off stage the actress playing Aang flew around the audience as the set changed from the forest to a ghost town.

Azula said nothing as she watched the actress land back on stage and another actress walk out from behind the tank, this one portraying her. Unlike the Sokka and Katara actors who were much too old for their characters this actress appeared to be much to young. She was wearing layer upon layer of make-up and her costume hung off her as if it were too big, not to mention that the boots she wore were clearly intended to boost her height.

"Who are you?" The woman playing Aang asked in wonder.

"I am Azula! Princess of the Fire Nation!" The actress announced, as the scene went on Azula decided that while her portrayal could definitely be better, it could also be a lot worse. The scene went on until all the other characters were also on stage and actress Azula was backed into a corner. "Wait, what's that?" She shouted, pointing into the distance. "I think it's your honor!" She said and when the others all turned around to look and she escaped through a hidden door the real Azula stifled a laugh.

"How did you get out of there?" Sokka whispered, leaning over so that Azula would hear him.

"A magician never reveals her secrets," she answered teasingly; she didn't have to turn around to know that the look on his face was nothing but sheer annoyance.

The next thing of interest in the play came during the scene when Zuko and Katara were trapped together in the catacombs beneath Ba Sing Se.

"I've had eyes for you since the day you first captured me," the actress confessed. Upon hearing that Katara and Zuko regretted sitting next to each other and pushed as far apart as they could get, while behind them Aang's blood started to boil.

"I am going to pretend I didn't see that," Azula commented as the scene ended.

But the relief was short lived, because soon came time for Zuko to choose a side. Even Azula cringed slightly as they watched the actor Zuko walk over to Iroh and shove the older man to the ground before siding with his sister.

"I hate you Uncle! You smell, and I hate you for all time!" He shouted, Azula glanced over to see how her brother was handling the scene but his head was already half buried in his arms and he looked like a kicked fire-ferret, she didn't know what to say.

The next big scene was Aang's death at the hands of Azula, and when the crowd started cheering she looked over her shoulder but found Aang was gone.

* * *

The second intermission, because unfortunately this play is long enough to require one, was more than welcome among the seven friends.

"Does anyone know where Aang is?" Katara asked as they made their way into the hallway.

"He left to get me fire gummies like ten minutes ago, and I'm still waiting!" Sokka whined.

"I'm going to check outside," His sister decided and with that she left.

Just after she left Sokka and Suki decided that they were going to try and sneak back stage, which left Azula with Zuko and Toph.

"Geez, everyone is getting so upset about their characters. Even you seem more down than usual, and that's saying something." Toph said to Zuko.

"You don't get it, it's different for you." Zuko said, "You get a muscly version of yourself taking down ten bad guys at once, and making sassy remarks."

"Yeah, that's pretty great." Toph interrupted.

"But for me, it takes all the mistakes I've made in my life and shoves them back in my face. My Uncle, he's always been on my side, even when things were bad. He was there for me, he taught me so much. And how do I repay him? With a knife in his back. It's my greatest regret, and I may never get to redeem myself." He said and Toph slid down the wall to sit next to him.

"You have redeemed yourself to your Uncle," she began to reassure him, Azula frowned at this and left; she couldn't listen to another minute of this.

Azula found herself wandering around the lobby until she ran into Suki.

"I thought you snuck back stage?" She questioned but Suki merely shrugged.

"We did, Sokka walked off and left me there." She said with a slightly amused smirk.

"He is something else isn't he?" Azula asked with an equal amount of amusement in her voice.

"He sure is," Suki laughed, "So what do you think of the play?" She asked, everyone seems to hate their portrayals so much but the Azula actress doesn't seem to be the worst.

"I think it's definitely fun to watch all the times Zuko failed to capture you guys." Azula answered and Suki laughed.

"I know, I was still with the other Kyoshi Warriors during most of that so it's really cool to see everything I missed." She agreed but of course the mention of the other warriors brought about an uncomfortable silence between the two.

"How do you not hate me?" Azula finally asked, a serious look of sadness on her face.

Suki just looked at her for a second, she knew what she meant but she really didn't want to.

"It takes a lot for me to hate someone," She tried to joke but it didn't work, not that she expected it to.

"I threw you and your friends in prison, and yet you're on my side during this whole ordeal." Azula said bluntly and Suki looked at her confused, "I can hear you yelling at Zuko, the floors and walls are pretty thin." She explained and Suki sighed.

"Do you want the truth?" She asked and Azula nodded, "Ok, honestly, I don't like you." She admitted; "You not only took me and my friends as prisoners but you also stole and disgraced my uniform, you attempted to and technically succeeded in killing the Avatar, a dying world's last sense of hope. Not to mention you proposed a plan that is going to destroy a third of the world! So yeah, I pretty much hate you." She continued, "And you're right, I hated you when I was defending you. But your brother wasn't, so I did. You deserve a lot of things Azula, but as horrible of person as you've been in the past Zuko doesn't deserve to lose you." She explained.

"You hate Zuko too?" Azula questioned, thinking that being stuck with her could only be a punishment if it's so horrible, but Suki shook her head.

"Far from it," She admitted, "But he wanted to torture you, and if that happened you might have never forgiven him." She continued

"So what?" Azula snapped, "What do you care if Zuko and me talk or not?" She demanded, "I hear you yelling at him, taking my side when you hate me. Why does it matter to you?" She continued and Suki's face hardened into a dark frown.

"You've already lost your mother, your father, and maybe even your Uncle. All you have left is each other, so take it from someone who already has lost everything; it sucks." She stated bluntly and with that she turned and left, returning to the theater.

* * *

Azula returned to the theater wordlessly, just as the third act was starting. The tension in the group seemed heavier than before, if that's even possible. Toph and Zuko seemed fine; Zuko even seemed better than before. Sokka also was more than ok, happily chatting away about how he had given the actor playing him some jokes to use. But Katara was combing her fingers through her hair as if it were some sort of diversion, and although Suki was listening to her boyfriend's ramblings she looked as though her mind were off somewhere else. Things stayed this way until Aang finally returned halfway through, and the tension that radiated off him only made things worse.

"I just want to let you know Aang that I'll always love you, like a brother." The actress Katara said.

"I wouldn't want it any other way!" The actress Aang cheered, this obviously only made tensions worse.

The invasion passed and Zuko joined the gang, Sokka and Zuko freed Suki from the boiling rock, and then they showed the Western Air Temple.

"Azula has hunted us down!" The actor Zuko exclaimed as all the other characters stood behind Appa, their way of pretending to ride him.

Actress Azula was standing high on a platform, probably the show's excuse for an airship.

"I've done what you never could brother! Now-oh no!" The actress exclaimed as she pretended to lose her balance, she then wobbled off the platform and fell behind a large fake rock. Azula waited for her to get back up, waited with baited breath, but she never did.

"My sister is gone now!" Actor Zuko exclaimed, almost joyously. "Now nothing will stand in our way of defeating the Firelord!"

Azula didn't see it, she was too hypnotized by the play, but Zuko looked over at her with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth, shaking his head to tell her that he never would've done that.

But unlike its viewers, the play moved on from the scene rather quickly. The final showdown was Aang and Zuko versus the Firelord. First he killed Zuko, then he killed Aang, and then the entire audience erupted in applause. Save for seven teenagers sitting way in the back.

* * *

"That wasn't a good play," Zuko said bluntly as they left the theater.

"I'll say," Aang agreed

"No kidding," Katara voiced

"Horrible," Suki added

"You said it," Toph chimed in

"Agreed," Azula said.

"But the effects were decent." Sokka pointed out, feeling that since coming to this play was his idea he needed to defend it somehow. Everyone just groaned in response to that however, so it was an attempt that fell flat. "Sorry," he apologized.

After that they trudged home in silence, each knowing they would receive a nightmare of some sort tonight, courtesy of this awful play.


	12. Chapter 12

Azula couldn't sleep that night, but she'd be surprised if anyone could after that play. She got up from her bed and left her room, she still hates that room and all of its reminders. She found herself walking down the stairs and out the front door, and although her desire to get away from the house was nowhere near as strong as it had been in the past she still opted to take a walk down to the beach. Once down there, however, she found that she wasn't alone. Suki was down there, standing in the shallow waters of the ocean shore. For a moment Azula considered turning back, and in hindsight she is unaware of why she didn't. But she walked down to the edge of the water and came to a stop behind her… friend? She didn't exactly know what to call Suki.

"Can't sleep either?" The warrior asked without turning around. Azula shook her head as she walked further and came to stand almost next to Suki, still just slightly behind her. "When I was a kid I used to wonder what was on the other side of the ocean, I knew about the war but I still wanted to know what the world was like; for better or for worst." She explained and Azula's expression was nothing but sheer guilt.

"I'm sorry," She admitted and Suki looked quizzically at her.

"For what?" She asked, "You've done some stuff but I'm not telling you this to make you feel bad about yourself." She said and this time it was Azula's turn to look confused.

"Then why are you telling me?" She asked and Suki turned her attention back to the ocean as she let out a long sigh and a shrug.

"I don't know," She finally answered, "Zuko told me that this island does stuff to people, maybe that's why I went off on you earlier, I'm sorry." She apologized but Azula only looked more confused than ever.

"For what? Getting angry?" She demanded, she wasn't sure if that was the word she wanted or not but as she analyzed Suki a little more thoughtfully she realized that that is exactly what the girl is, angry.

Suki is a very and sometimes unbelievably kind person. She sided with and helped the girl who took her prisoner for crying out loud! She's a great leader, a great warrior, and overall a genuinely good person.

Except she's angry.

She's not just angry with Azula. The fire bending girl knows all too well that the sort of absolute fury Suki has managed to push aside is not something that can be done the first time around. She's been angry, she's felt an extreme level of hate sometime before in her life. She's able to mask it because she knows how, because she's already learned. Come to think of it, Azula realized that throughout her interrogation Suki began her story with leaving Kyoshi Island, her time spent on the island only becoming relevant if and when she was asked about the Avatar. Even then, she only said that Kyoshi Island is where he 'inspired her and the other warriors' as she had put it. During her imprisonment, before she and the other warriors were moved to separate prisons, the only person she ever even remotely mentioned would come for her was Sokka. She never once mentioned anyone else she could've been missing, just Sokka and the other warriors. Back then Azula had assumed it was to keep her from going after anyone else, but now she was wondering if maybe there was another reason. If maybe Suki, one way or another, really had lost everything.

She was about to say something, she didn't know what she would say but she knew she wanted to say something, when instead of words a painful shriek came out of her mouth.

Suki whirled around in shock at the sound, only to see Azula doubled over with an arrow sticking out of her back. It had been shot right into her already injured shoulder, only this time from behind. Of course Suki knew who was responsible for this, and that she could probably catch him, but there was no time. Instead she placed Azula's good arm along her shoulders and began dragging her up the beach to the house, all the while screaming for help in hopes that her friends would hear.

* * *

"HELP!" Toph awoke with a start when she heard the cries, at first she thought maybe it was just a dream, but then she heard it again. This time she sprung out of bed and darted outside, following the sound of the voice.

She made it outside and the moment her feet touched the ground she 'saw' the two figures down at the bottom of the steep and rocky path. The first person she recognized as Suki, the other person's feet were dragging lifelessly so it was hard to tell, but Toph was sure it was Azula.

"Guys!" She shouted in panic, turning back into the house and bolting up the stairs. Normally she took wooden steps like these slow, they're hard to see on, but tonight she had no time. So she dropped down on all fours and clamored up the stairs like a Hog-Monkey racing for a piece of fruit. "Guys!" She continued as she scrambled to her feet once at the top of the stairs.

"Toph?" Zuko asked, opening his door and rubbing sleep from his eyes. "What's going-?" But he didn't have time to finish because his friend was already tugging at his arm.

"You have to get outside! Something… I don't know but something's wrong with someone!" She shouted, just at that moment Sokka and Aang came around the corner to see what all the commotion was and the scene before them looked strikingly similar to that of a little girl trying to convince her father there was a monster under her bed.

"What?" Zuko asked again as Toph all but pushed him down the stairs.

"Just go!" She exclaimed.

* * *

Zuko had no idea what was going on as he stumbled outside, or even why he was stumbling outside to begin with. All he knew was that one minute he was asleep and the next Toph was dragging him out of his room while rambling about someone on the beach. He had no idea what she was trying to say, but when he got out there and saw Suki practically dragging what appeared to an unconscious Azula up the path he ran for them.

Upon reaching them things only got worse. He could now see that Azula had fresh wound on the back of her already injured shoulder, which Suki claimed had come from an arrow that neither of the girls saw coming. That was all Zuko needed to know to figure out who had done this. But there would be time for revenge later. Right now he took off his shirt and pressed the wadded up fabric of it tightly against Azula's latest wound as he took her from Suki and carried her inside the house. She was barely awake in his arms; she had lost a lot of blood already and clearly was suffering because of it. He bolted up the stairs with her and when he reached her room Katara was already there with the others, but she quickly shooed them out.

Zuko dumped his sister face down on her bed; Katara didn't even need to ask how Azula had gotten such a wound. She was working quickly as she could healing the wound, when Suki all but burst through the door.

"I went back… for the arrow," She began, panting for breath. "There's something, something wet besides blood on it." She panted and Zuko isn't exactly sure if his eyes narrowed or widened.

"Poison," He determined before turning to Katara, "Can you-?" He started to ask but she cut him off.

"I don't know," she said, "I've never healed poison before, but I'll try." She promised; Zuko really didn't like the sound of that.

* * *

"Hey," Sokka said in the morning when he found Zuko slumped on the floor outside his sister's bedroom. "Were you out here all night?" He asked.

"Just since Katara kicked me out of there," Zuko answered, pointing with his thumb at the door. With a long face Sokka took a seat beside his friend, although he knew that there was nothing he could say.

"Do you know how she is?" He asked but Zuko shook his head.

"No, Katara's been in there all night." He answered before he clutched the sides of his head in anger. "I'm such an idiot!" He growled, "I should've known getting rid of that guy was too easy! He didn't leave, he just knew he couldn't take all of us!" He exclaimed; he was so mad, so furious with himself. He had been surprised when the archer didn't climb back up the tree and return through the window, but he had opted to brush it off and worry about his sister. So now, because he chose to let the attacker go, Azula may be dead.

"You're not an idiot," Sokka assured him, "You're a brother." He said but that did little to help.

"If I was a good brother I would've put that guy in the ground when I had the chance," Zuko said.

"Hey if it was Katara who had been shot, I would've done exactly what you did and worried about her before worrying about what I should do to the shooter." He said; he couldn't even imagine what his friend must be feeling right now. If Katara was ever shot like this, well he didn't want to imagine what he would do to the shooter. He didn't want to think about something like that happening to his little sister, it made his stomach turn and made him feel sick. "Zuko, you and Azula may not have the best relationship but when it came down to it her safety mattered more to you then a chance at payback. In my opinion anyway that makes you a great brother." He said, clasping his hand on his friend's shoulder.

Just at that moment Katara emerged out of the bedroom looking worse for wear and both boys stood up.

"Is she…?" Zuko trailed off, unable to ask such a question.

"She's alive, for now. Your dad was right, she was born lucky." She said and so Zuko gave her a quizzical stare.

"The archer wasn't aiming for her heart, he was aiming for one of the veins connected to it." She began to explain and upon hearing that, Zuko clenched his fists.

"He wanted her to suffer," He growled and Katara nodded, an equally angry and disgusted look upon her face.

"I don't think I could've healed a severed vein like that, but lucky for Azula I didn't have to. I went to try but there was nothing there." She said, "The vein he was aiming for, the vein he should've hit, Azula was born without it." She finished and now Zuko looked even more afraid than he did before, despite the fact that this was meant as good news.

"What does being born without it mean for her?" He asked nervously but he relaxed when Katara gave him a small ghost of a smile.

"Nothing, I checked it out but from what I could pick up her body adjusted to it just fine. All it means for her, is that ironically it saved her life." She explained and Zuko breathed in a sigh of relief.

"What about the poison?" He asked and Katara's face fell, back to one of sadness and what looked to be guilt, making Zuko hold his breath yet again.

"I got it out, but she lost a lot of blood before you got her to me." She admitted and Zuko nodded, understanding that his sister's chances of survival were still in question because of that.

"Thank you," he said to Katara, "Now get some rest, I'll stay with her." With that said he pushed past Katara and entered Azula's room, while Katara made her way down the stairs.

When Zuko entered the room Azula was asleep. She was lying on her side, and upon getting closer he was beyond relieved to find her still breathing. Her shoulder had been re-bandaged and due to the damage it this time had to be done all around her chest, so her blood soaked shirt was once again lying discarded on the floor and this time was joined by her also blood soaked chest band, but the bandages were enough to cover her so it didn't matter. Zuko took a seat on the edge of her bed and gently brushed some hair out of her face, but the action wasn't enough to wake her. So he sat there, lightly combing his fingers through her hair because he needed to distract himself from the reminder of the bandages somehow. He hated that their father had ordered this on her; he knew Ozai could be cruel but this… this was just heartless. Whether the brutality of the attack had been decided by The Firelord or not didn't matter, because either it had or he didn't care enough to ask the assassin to end Azula painlessly. But it's almost a good thing because thanks to a birth defect they didn't know about not only did he fail, but also he thinks he succeeded. That means he won't come back after her. That means that for right now at least, she is safe.

* * *

Sokka found Katara sitting up on the roof, although it did take him awhile to find the trap door. She was sitting there, knees pulled to her chest, looking miserable.

"Katara you did it," he said as he joined her. "You saved her life, why do you look so upset?" He asked, he could tell from the moment Zuko mentioned the poison that something was wrong with his own little sister, and he was determined to find out what.

"I almost didn't," Katara muttered

"But you did," Her brother insisted, but she only continued to stare vacantly at her feet.

"I had to blood bend." She finally confessed; Sokka stared at her with wide and unbelieving eyes. "Before I could even focus on the wound I had to get rid of the blood, so I used a towel and some water. It only took a few seconds but when it was good enough I started searching for that vein, when I couldn't find it I decided to focus on her heart, it was speeding up. The poison was already getting to her heart and I…I couldn't tell how much there was and…" Her voice was cracking, tears were starting to fall down her cheeks, and Sokka didn't blame her.

She had been so ashamed last time. She had hated herself so much for allowing Hama to teach her a skill that could take away a person's free will. She had promised that for as long as she lived she would never use the technique again, but she had.

"Katara," Sokka said sternly, his voice calm and steady and so the opposite of hers. He placed a hand on her shoulder, like he had done with Zuko just a few moments ago. "You did what you had to, and you save her life because of it." He assured her before pulling her into a hug.

Katara sobbed into her brother's shoulder. She knows that he's right, and that she used this awful skill for good, but she still hated it. She still hated that feeling of controlling the blood in someone else's body, of holding the control of someone else's life force.

No one should ever have that much power.

* * *

When Azula's eyes finally fluttered open she found that not only was she back in her bedroom but also that Zuko was sitting slumped on the side of her bed.

"Hey," He said with a hint of a smile when he noticed her waking up.

"Hey," She replied tiredly, reaching up and rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?" She asked.

"Almost sunset, you've been out since last night." He explained; that's when it all came coming back to her.

The play, the carelessness people had about her onstage death, how she couldn't sleep because of it, her conversation with Suki, and then the pain. The sharp pain of an arrow flying into her, tearing through her skin and muscles. She remembered feeling someone grab her and start dragging her, but after that it was nothing but blackness.

"I'm sorry," Zuko finally broke the silence

"So am I," Azula sneered. "I'm sorry I ever obeyed him." She continued.

"He's going to pay Azula," Zuko assured her, "For what he's done to us and for what he's done to the world." He continued and although Azula still looked to be very angry she nodded.

"Good." She snarled.


	13. Chapter 13

Firelord Ozai knew that Kichiro wouldn't be foolish enough to return had he failed in ending Azula's life, therefor he was pleasantly surprised when the archer did indeed return.

"Is it done?" He asked of the man kneeling before him.

"Yes my lord," he answered obediently. "I severed a vein to her heart, then watched as one of the Avatar's companions dragged her limp body along the beach. They couldn't have saved her if they wanted to." The archer continued and upon hearing that The Firelord smirked with satisfaction, completely unaware of his daughter's luck.

"Good," he said, now the only person he needs to worry about is the Avatar, and to him that child is no worry.

* * *

Dinner that night was awkward to say the least. At first it was just quiet, but quiet soon turned to awkward when Zuko came trudging down the stairs with Azula trailing behind him. The injury she had received to her ankle during the first attack was mostly healed by this point, so she was walking just fine. That being said the others still looked at her as though she was crippled. She sat down in her usual seat, wishing so badly that everyone would take their eyes off of her already. Honestly, she didn't even want to be here. She hadn't wanted to come down to eat; she had wanted to just stay in her room. But she wouldn't let herself take such an easy way out. She may be trying to change her ways, but she's still going to be as strong as she ever was. So she'll go downstairs, she'll face the other's with her head held high, and she won't let her father's actions break her; not anymore.

So she sat there and wordlessly picked at her food, pretending not to notice the heavy set stares focused on her. Eventually everyone moved past their shock that she had come down and retuned to picking at their food as well, though it was still quiet.

"So…" Sokka's voice trailed off, he was desperately trying to make conversation here but was also falling flat with the attempt.

"So anyone got a plan for when the comet comes?" Toph asked, but she almost regretted it when she could feel everyone looking at her, even though such a thing was hard to determine through her feat.

"I've been working on one," Sokka answered after a moment

"Great," Azula remarked dryly, Sokka couldn't help it when he turned and glared at her.

"Anyway," he said with a very defensive voice, "I'm still working on the details but it should work." He all but snapped, Azula looked like she wanted to say something but she never got the chance.

"Good," Zuko said, ending the argument between his sister and Sokka before it could even begin. "We don't have much time left, we should all get some sleep tonight and go over it tomorrow." He continued, Azula wanted to ask who put him in charge but she bit her tongue.

"Sounds like a plan," Suki agreed

"As long as you don't leave me out of it," Azula said but based on the looks she received the group had intended on doing just that.

"Azula, you're hurt." Zuko told her bluntly, or tried to tell her would be more like it.

"So?" She asked incredulously, "Do you honestly think such a thing is going to keep me on the sidelines?" She continued to question.

"Azula, I did everything I could for you but your shoulder still needs time to heal." Katara tried to tell her gently, knowing that she wasn't going to be convinced easily.

"We don't have time," She argued and Zuko couldn't help but sigh, this wasn't going to be pretty.

"I know you're hurt Azula, but you don't need to fight this battle." Aang tried to tell her; unlike Zuko he clearly wasn't talking about physical pain.

"Well I'm certainly not going to sit by and do nothing while you all go charging into battle." Azula snapped in response to the Avatar.

"This isn't a revenge mission Azula," Zuko tried to butt in, but it seemed to do more harm than good.

"So you won't be getting any satisfaction from bringing down The Firelord?" She asked smugly.

"That's not the point!" He yelled back at his sister. "This is about saving the world, not getting revenge. We're doing this the right way." He lectured, but Azula ignored the finality in his voice.

"Oh and what's the right way?" She questioned, however she didn't expect Zuko to stare her down the way he did.

"Aang takes the life of The Firelord, not one of us." He told her firmly, everyone was so enticed by the exchange between the two siblings that they didn't even notice Aang's face pale.

"Fair enough," Azula agreed, sure she would like to be the one to make her father pay for what he's done, but as long as he would pay then who delivered the blow really didn't matter in the long run.

* * *

"Sokka?" Aang asked that night, long after everyone had gone off to bed, he and Sokka included.

"Yeah buddy?" Sokka questioned with a yawn, rolling over in his bed to look at his friend across the room.

"Do you think I'm really going to have to kill The Firelord?" He asked and Sokka yawned again.

"Well if you don't Azula will," he sort of joked, although based on dinner he wouldn't doubt it.

"Sokka I'm serious!" Aang practically snapped in frustration, something he almost never does. "I've never taken a life before, the monks raised me to be peaceful and that killing is never an option." He continued, although neither boy said it both were thinking that the monks may not be the best example in this situation; considering they were slaughtered by the Fire Nation.

"Aang, what did you think was going to happen?" Sokka asked, now sitting up on his bed.

"I don't know," Aang answered, the frustration still very evident in his voice. "I know we've been planning to fight him since Roku told me about the comet but I never thought…" He trailed off, his voice sounding heartbroken as ever. This caused Sokka to take pity on his friend, because maybe it was his voice or maybe it was the late hour of the night, but regardless of the reason Sokka found himself suddenly reminded that they aren't just soldiers, they're also kids.

"I know that this doesn't compare to killing The Firelord, at all, but the first time I killed a Polar-Leopard I knew what I was doing going into it, and I was nine." He began and Aang turned to listen as his friend told his story. "It was a couple of months before my mom died, I had been begging my dad to take me hunting with him ever since I learned to talk and he decided that I was finally old enough. We went out early in the morning and although my dad told me he would kill whatever we caught if I didn't want to I told him I would, I was so excited to kill my first animal. We spent the whole day far away from the village tracking a heard of Polar-Leopards, and when we found them we made a plan of attack. We used some rotten meat to lure one of them into a trap and when it was close enough dad took it down, but he didn't kill it, he saved that for me." He explained his tale with a long face, but not a regretful one. "I remember looking at it and wondering if I really had it in me or not to kill it, but I knew that if I never killed it my family would starve. So I closed my eyes, and I struck. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and I didn't feel guilty. I think that's because when you're doing something morally wrong for the right reasons, the universe understands." He finished and although Aang did appear to consider the logic it didn't look like the story actually helped him. Without a word he rolled over and began to think some more on the matter.

* * *

"Isn't it a little early to come and yell at me?" Azula asked, the sun hadn't even risen yet and already her brother was in her room and waking her up.

"You're not going to stay behind are you?" He questioned her, ignoring her sarcasm.

"I thought I already made that clear." She said flatly in response.

"Then let me make this clear," Zuko said seriously, "This battle is bigger then either of us, so if you want to fight I'm not going to stop you. But of you stray from whatever the plan is and try to take matters into your own hands I'll do whatever I have to to restrain you." He told her,

"Don't worry Zuzu, I'll be good." She promised and although Zuko left the room after that he wasn't really sure if he really believed her or not.

* * *

Zuko worked with Aang training all morning, but after last night the impending battle was weighing heavily on the Avatar's mind and if the days before the invasion serve as any indicator, Aang is not a master at handling stress. That being said he was still able to remain focused and relatively calm throughout the day. Azula too worked on her fire bending as much as she could, but she took periodic breaks to give her shoulder a rest, mostly against her will mind you. So that's what she was doing when Zuko decided it would be a good idea for Aang to take a five minute break as well, much to the Avatar's protest.

"Can I talk to you?" Zuko asked Azula and so she followed him off into a corner of the courtyard.

"What?" She snapped, "I've been taking it easy just like you asked," She continued to seethe in annoyance.

"Have you been able to generate lightning ever since we adjusted your fire bending technique?" He asked and so Azula shrugged, and regretted it the moment she felt the aching pain the small action caused in her shoulder.

"Haven't tried," She responded, hoping Zuko hadn't caught the wince of pain.

"Do you think you could teach Aang?" He asked and Azula gave the idea a moment of thought.

"I'll try," she agreed and Zuko nodded with just a ghost of a grateful smile.

"Give it a shot yourself first, just to make sure you can do it." He instructed, although Azula had picked up on the new way of fire bending rather quickly her flames were still orange and so it was obvious that she hadn't reached her full power yet. This was the only thing that gave Zuko even a shred of doubt that she could still generate lightning; he wasn't too worried about it though.

* * *

"Easy, easy," Sokka said as he helped Azula limp into her room roughly ten minutes after her conversation with Zuko. She had tried to generate lightning and it resulted in her all but blowing herself up.

"Would you shut up?" She snapped at him as he eased her down onto her bed. "I'm not a child, I know to be careful."

"Really?" Sokka asked sarcastically, "Because your second-degree burns say otherwise." He continued to mock.

"Keep talking and I'll give you some of your own." She threatened and Sokka wouldn't admit it but he shrank back in fear, just a little.

"Sorry," he said, though he wasn't really sorry. Azula just rolled her eyes in frustration at him for a response. "So why did you blow yourself up?" He questioned.

"What? You think I did that on purpose?" She snapped, clearly far past the point of simple annoyance.

"No but, I don't know I just thought maybe you knew why it happened." He replied, to tell the truth Sokka really had no idea why he was even still talking. Azula may be hurt, really badly, but he still had no doubt in his mind that she could kill him with one look if she wanted to.

"I'm just out of practice," She told him but he knew that even she knew the notion that this happened simply because she was out of practice was nothing more than hope. Still he also knew better than to comment on that, so he just nodded.

"How do you feel?" He asked; Katara had already tried her best to heal the burns right after the accident happened, and had done a pretty good job. That being said Azula's burns were still going to need some time to heal.

"Just great," she said, sarcasm lacing her voice, "I've only been shot three times in the past two weeks, blowing myself up as you put it is just the icing on the cake!" She snapped.

"Sorry," Sokka said again.

"Zuko's never going to let me fight now," she muttered and Sokka sighed before he took a seat on the edge of her bed.

"I don't think he's going to stop you," He said, "he knows better." He continued but Azula still looked upset, not that he didn't understand why. "Look you're hurt, in more ways than one. But whether or not your fight with us is up to you, no one is going to bench you." He assured her but she shrugged, a part of her still believed that Zuko would at least try and bench her.

They sat there in silence for what seemed like forever, both more or less wondering why Sokka hadn't gotten up and left already.

"Next time you see your sister, tell her I say thank you. Without her I probably wouldn't be alive." Azula finally said and for a moment Sokka just looked at her, admittedly surprised that she was capable of saying thank you. But he knew it would be best not to comment on the matter, as if he did it would likely send Azula back a few steps back.

"Sure thing," he agreed and then it was quiet again. "Well I'd better get going, see ya later." He said as he finally got up.

"Bye," Azula said as he left.

* * *

It wasn't until much later that night that Azula rejoined the others in the courtyard, and clearly she had missed something during the day. Sokka was hunched over his plans for the attack, making adjustments by the looks of things. Like the others he was also picking at his dinner.

"I have a surprise for everyone," Katara announced as she also joined the group, a rather large scroll clasped in her hands.

"I knew it! You did have a secret thing with Haru!" Toph exclaimed, and while everyone else, including Katara, looked a mix of horrified and shocked by the assumption Azula couldn't help but burst out laughing. She may not know who Haru is but that didn't make Toph's suspicion any less amusing.

"Uh, no." Katara finally managed to get out. "I was looking for cooking pots in the attic and I found this!" She continued, unrolling the scroll to reveal it as one all too familiar to both Zuko and Azula. "Look at baby Zuko! Isn't he cute?" Katara cooed and while the others chuckled Azula just looked to Zuko, who looked down at the ground. "Oh lighten up, I'm just teasing." Katara said when she noticed how upset Zuko was by this.

"That's not me," he said

"It's our father," Azula added and if she thought the group of friends looked horrified when Toph suggested Katara had a secret thing with Haru, they looked completely stunned now.

"But he looks so sweet and innocent," Suki finally said, not believing what Azula had said.

"That sweet little kid grew up to be a monster, and the worst father in the history of fathers." Zuko said

"I'd say worst in the history of parents, at least mom didn't try to kill us." Azula added, Zuko very badly wanted to defend their mother but this was not the time or the place to try and understand Azula's childhood.

"But he's still a human being," Aang finally spoke up, he'd been sitting away from the group throughout this whole discussion, and now he was defending The Firelord.

"You're going to defend him?" Zuko asked incredulously, voicing what they were all thinking.

"No, I agree with you." Aang insisted as he got up, "Firelord Ozai is a horrible person and the world would probably be better off without him, but there's gotta be another way." He continued.

"There isn't, and even if there was he doesn't deserve that kind of mercy." Azula said, venom coating every word she said as she approached Aang. "I promised Zuko that I would follow your plan, but if you won't kill The Firelord I will." She promised more than threatened, behind her Zuko decided not to intervene, because she's right; there is no other way.

At this Aang looked positively mortified, because he knew she was serious.

"Aang no one said this was going to be easy," Katara gently voiced

"I never thought it would be!" Aang practically exploded, taking everyone by surprise. "But you're asking me to wipe somebody out! I can't do that!" He exploded.

"We'll you're going to have to!" Azula cut in, "This is about the world and what's best for it, so you're going to have to deal with the fact that maybe the way the monks raised you isn't going to work this time!" She shouted at the Avatar, Zuko had make sure it got through her head that she needed to put her personal desires aside for this mission, it's time Aang did the same thing.

Aang growled, but he didn't have anything he could say to that, so his face fell back to a very unsure expression.

"I need to think," he said and as he left the courtyard his friends let him go, not knowing that he wouldn't return by morning.


	14. Chapter 14

With the comet approaching soon, very soon, the group woke up early the next morning and began loading their belongings onto Appa while the bison ate; they needed to start making their way towards the Fire Nation.

"Ok, that's everything." Sokka announced once he was confident that he had secured everything onto the saddle.

"Not it's not," Toph objected and so the other's looked to her, wondering what it was they had all missed. "Where's Aang?" She asked, obviously everyone was quick to look around and when they realized that Aang was in fact missing they all darted inside to search the house for the Avatar.

"Aang? Aang?" Zuko called once the group was upstairs.

"Come on lazy bones, let's go!" Toph called out but when she got no response the group split up and began frantically searching the house.

They searched the whole place from top to bottom, but found no sign of Aang. That is, not until Sokka found his staff. But with no other sign of him they decided to check the beach, where they found footprints leading into the ocean.

"So he went for a midnight swim and never came back?" Suki asked

"The kid survived underwater for a hundred years, how could he have drowned between last night and this morning?" Azula questioned sarcastically, though she was mostly ignored.

"Maybe he was captured," Katara suggested but Sokka shook his head.

"I don't think so. There's no sign of a struggle." He said

"I bet he ran away again," Toph theorized, couching down next to Sokka.

"He left behind his glider and Appa," Sokka argued.

"Then what do you think happened to him? Oh, sluthy one." Toph shot back

"It's pretty obvious," Sokka said as he stood up, "Aang disappears before an important battle, he's definitely on a spirit world journey!"

"But if he was, wouldn't his body still be here?" Zuko asked and suddenly Sokka's confidence deflated.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that." He said

"Then he's gotta be somewhere on Ember Island, let's split up and look for him." Katara said, being quick to make the plan.

"I'm going with Zuko!" Toph excitedly announced, attaching herself to the arm of her friend.

"Um...?" Azula said as she and the others all stared at the young earth bender in confusion.

"What?" She asked, "Everyone else went on a life changing field trip with Zuko, now it's my turn!" She exclaimed

"Right… Uh, Katara and I will check in town." Suki said and Sokka nodded.

"I'll take Appa and fly around, maybe I can spot him from the air." He decided and as everyone split up and went their separate ways Azula approached Sokka.

"Looks like I'm with you," she said and while she expected the Water Tribe boy to absolutely loath the idea he simply nodded to her.

"Let's go," he said.

The two of them climbed onto Appa and began their search over the island, and when they didn't see any sign of him they began flying over the ocean.

"How far are we going?" Azula asked when she noticed that Sokka had headed out very far; so far in fact that Ember Island was now nothing more than a distant dot.

"As far as we need to in order to find Aang," Sokka distractedly replied from where he sat steering Appa. Azula nodded and simply returned to peering over the saddle, scanning the sea below for the Avatar. "Do you really think he froze himself again?" Sokka finally asked and Azula looked over to see that he was in fact serious. "What you said before, about him surviving underwater for a hundred years, you don't think he's trying that again do you?" He further explained, he didn't want to think about it but the reason Aang ended up frozen in a block of ice was because he was afraid of being the Avatar, and on some level he still is.

"From what I understand he didn't freeze himself on purpose the first time," She said it like it was a question and so Sokka nodded in confirmation. "Then I doubt he'd try to." She said, trying to be reassuring. However that is not exactly her best skill and the reassurance seemed to only count for less and less with each hour they spent flying.

"Come on, let's head back." Sokka finally said, when they returned to the house, however, they were greeted by the sight of the others all sitting on the front steps.

"Judging by the looks on your faces I'm guessing you guys didn't find Aang either," Sokka said when they landed, him and Azula quickly dismounting the bison.

"No, it's like he just… disappeared." Zuko answered gravely

"Wait, has anyone noticed that Momo's missing too?" Toph questioned, apparently despite being blind she's the only one who notices anything around here.

The moment he heard that Sokka whirled around in panic, "Oh no, I knew it was only a matter of time!" He exclaimed, "Appa ate Momo!" He shouted as he pried open the bison's mouth and stuck his head in. "Momo! I'm coming for you buddy!" He shouted,

"Sokka, Appa didn't eat Momo. He's probably with Aang." Katara stated but Sokka responded by turning his head and glaring disbelievingly at her.

"That's just what Appa wants you to think," he said before fully crawling into the large creature's mouth.

"Isn't that thing an herbivore?" Azula asked but Sokka ignored her as Appa shut his mouth, leaving only his legs kicking the air outside.

"Get out of the bison's mouth Sokka," Zuko ordered, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Aang is nowhere to be found and the comet is only two days away."

"Thanks for the reminder captain bring-down," Azula commented and Zuko only growled at her.

"What do you two think we should do?" Katara asked, and it wasn't a sarcastic question. Based on the way she, Suki, and Toph where looking at them, while Sokka came sliding out of Appa's mouth in a puddle of drool, it was obvious that they were honestly looking to their ex enemies to make the plan.

"I don't know," Zuko finally said but they just kept looking at him expectantly, even Sokka raised his head up in the background. With no other idea, Zuko looked to Azula.

"How should I know?" She asked, "Why are you looking at us anyway?" She continued,

"Well you guys are kind of the experts on tracking Aang," Katara reasoned,

"Yeah, if anyone's got experience hunting the Avatar, it's you two." Toph said in support of the idea.

"Ironic," Azula commented, "but true." She finished before looking to Zuko. "However I usually found him by tracking you," She said but Zuko was still lost in his own world of thought.

"Everybody get on Appa," he finally announced and so without a word the others all got up and piled onto the bison, Sokka slipping on the drool he was covered in more than once.

When the Water Tribe boy finally made it onto the bison he was met with a swift towel to the face, and pulled it off just to see that Azula had thrown it.

"Wipe yourself off before you come near any of us," she snapped, he only grumbled and did as he was told.

* * *

One agonizingly long flight later and the group found themselves outside of an Earth Kingdom tavern just around the time of sunset.

"Ok you dragged us all the way out to the Earth Kingdom which if we don't find Aang is going to be burned to the ground in just about twenty-four hours, now I see why father had me take over your job, you just try and get yourself killed." Azula remarked as they all dismounted Appa.

"We're here because there's someone who can help us find Aang," Zuko responded

"Who?" Katara questioned, "No offence but I can't think of a single person we could find here that's able to help us," She continued as they walked through the door, but Zuko simply pointed ahead.

"I can," he answered; he was pointing to a girl with pale skin, raven black hair, and was wearing a dark maroon colored outfit, sitting at a table while she crushed a man's neck with her legs.

"Oh yeah, that weird bounty hunter with the giant mole." Sokka commented

"Mole? Her skin is flawless," Suki commented

"No, she has this giant mole creature she rides around on." He further explained.

"Bounty hunter with a giant pet mole?" Azula asked, eyeing Zuko with a smirk. "You sure know how to pick 'em." She teased and Zuko sighed.

"Please, don't say anything to her," he requested, knowing that with June's tolerance for people, or lack thereof, anything Azula said could cost them her help.

"So how is she supposed to help us?" Suki asked

"Her 'giant mole' is a Shirshu, it can track a person's scent anywhere in the world, including Aang's. It's the only chance we have at finding him." He explained and as he did the woman in question threw her drink into the air, took out a very large man moving to attack her, and caught the drink without spilling a drop.

"I don't know who this lady is, but I like her!" Toph announced with a wide and very impressed grin, obviously having seen the woman fighting and easily subduing the man who was twice her size.

"Wait, she helped you attack us!" Sokka exclaimed accusingly but Zuko merely shrugged off the anger of his friend.

"Yup, back in the good old days." He said and Azula couldn't help but frown, not that anyone noticed of course.

 _"No kidding,"_ she thought to herself before she promptly followed the others over to the woman's table.

"Oh great, it's prince pouty." The woman commented, Azula mentally agreed with Toph about liking her. "Where's your creepy grandpa?" She asked, oh yeah, Azula could learn to like this one.

"He's my uncle, June, and he's not here," Zuko answered defensively, clearly still sore over what the play had portrayed him and Iroh as.

"I see you worked things out with your girlfriend," June commented, to which both Zuko and Katara went extremely red in the face and very defensive.

"She's not my girlfriend/I'm not his girlfriend!" They both exclaimed at the same time, causing Azula to eye her brother skeptically.

"Ok, ok, sheesh. I was only teasing." June brushed off.

"Teasing is lost on them, believe me." Azula said as June took a sip of her drink.

"Whose this?" She asked

"My sister," Zuko replied and June actually chuckled at that.

"I'm sorry," she said

"Don't be, we worked things out." Zuko replied

"No kidding, I'm sorry for her. I know I'd hate to be related to you." She continued as she took another sip of her drink. Zuko struggled to maintain his composure while Azula let out a giggle; she was liking this girl more and more with every word she said.

"So what do you want?" June finally asked,

"I need your help finding the Avatar," Zuko replied but June remained emotionless.

"Doesn't sound too fun," she responded, and that's where Zuko's patience wore out.

"Does the end of the world sound like more fun?" He all but shouted, even getting in her face a little.

Finally June put down her drink and got up, leaving some coins on the table.

"Ok fine, assuming my other option is death." She mumbled as she began heading for the door, the others following her example, except Azula held Zuko back.

"Between her and the play I'm really confused, did you and Katara used to-"

"No," Zuko cut her off before heading out the door, leaving his sister snickering behind him.

* * *

Outside Nyla was sniffing Aang's staff and promptly walking around, sniffing in a circle, before lying down and placing her paws over her nose.

"Well what does that mean?" Zuko questioned, remembering very clearly that this didn't happen last time.

"It means your friend's gone," June answered while scratching her pet's ear.

"We know he's gone, that's why we're trying to find him." Toph said as if it was obvious, Azula couldn't help but think that the blind girl was in denial.

"No I mean he's gone gone, he doesn't exist." June said darkly, sealing the reality for everyone.

"What do you mean Aang doesn't exist?" Sokka finally asked, the strange wording of the statement bothering him. "Do you mean he's, you know, dead?" He continued to ask.

"Nope, we could find him if he were dead." June told him, somehow that came as a relief to everyone. "I know; it's a real head scratcher." June agreed, "see ya," she said before turning away, apparently not caring one way or the other if the end of the world comes about or not.

"Helpful, real helpful." Toph said in annoyance.

"Wait," Zuko said, halting June's departure. "I have another idea, there's only one other person in this world who can help us face the Firelord. I'll be right back with a smell sample." He explained but as he began digging through his stuff up on the saddle all of his friends, and even June, exchanged curious looks.

Who else could help them defeat the worst man on the planet?

The answer became clear when Zuko jumped down holding his uncle's flip-flop.

"And here I thought that smell was coming from Sokka's laundry," Azula said and if Sokka weren't using one hand to pinch his nose he probably would've followed through on his desire to strangle the princess, or he likes to think he would've done it anyway.

The sample seemed to be strong enough, big surprise there, and Nyla was quickly heading off on a path, team Avatar piling onto Appa and following right behind her.

"My laundry doesn't smell that bad!" Sokka defended quickly

"Nothing smells that bad," Azula bluntly replied. "But it can't be far behind," she continued and again Sokka looked as though he wanted to strangle her, but again he didn't.

* * *

They traveled through the night, and despite the severity of the situation Azula was trapped in her own thoughts. They were going to find uncle, forget about Zuko facing him; she was going to have to face him. He'd never liked her, not as a child and certainly not now. But let the record show, she's never been all that fond of him. In her eyes he's always been a phony, and if she's being honest, he still is. He acts like he's some great hero, like he's the wisest old man in the Fire Nation. He acts like he's so brave and strong, but he's a coward. Not because he mourned the loss of his son or gave up his siege of Ba Sing Se, no those things Azula understands now. But what makes him a coward; is that he chose the easy path. When she was a child he knew that she wasn't very fond of playing with dolls, yet those were the only presents she ever received from him. When mother left he became Zuko's protector, and when Zuko was banished he was all too willing to volunteer as a caretaker for him. It's not that Zuko didn't deserve that love as a child, it's that Zuko was always being picked on and so it was easy to love him.

But her?

She was never an easy child. She hid her emotions, at the end of the day she's always been just as broken as Zuko but uncle never cared enough to see that. Like mother he's always believed his niece to be a monster. She was too much work to care for, and just like mother, uncle let her suffer because of it.

Toph brought Azula back to reality, though not through the use of words. No, the blind girl had fallen asleep and finally her limp body slumped over and landed with her head on her new friend's lap. She stirred slightly, but when there's no earth beneath her Toph can be a surprisingly heavy sleeper and so all she did while stirring was make herself comfortable. Azula, however, had no idea what to do and just stared down at her friend in surprise.

"She's a lot like you, you know," Katara's voice said, Azula looked up to see the Water Tribe girl smiling gently at her. "She acts all tough and fearless, but at the end of the day she needs someone to lean on as much as the rest of us." She explained.

"Does this mean you watch me when I sleep?" Azula questioned and Katara chuckled.

"Just don't wake her up, she doesn't get peace like that often." She said, turning away and lying down on her side facing away from Azula.

Azula looked down at Toph, then back at Katara who had turned away.

"Yeah, me either." She muttered.

* * *

They didn't stop flying until late the next night, and when they finally landed they found themselves outside of a very familiar wall.

"We're going to Ba Sing Se?" Zuko asked as he and the others dismounted Appa.

"Your uncle's just beyond the wall, Nyla's getting twitchy so he can't be far. Good luck," she said before riding off.

"Two days nonstop and she doesn't even want to rest for five minutes?" Azula asked

"I guess not, but we should." Zuko decided, "It's been a long day, let's camp here start again in the morning."


	15. Chapter 15

"Can't sleep either?" Azula asked when she found her brother sitting alone on a piece of rubble, doing nothing but staring off into the distance.

"I've got a lot on my mind," he answered and although Azula nodded she couldn't help but feel the anger coursing through her veins, Zuko has no idea how good he has it. "How am I supposed to face uncle, supposed to ask him for help, after everything I've done?" He questioned and biting back a scoff Azula dug her fingers deeper into her bicep, before she abruptly uncrossed her arms after realizing she was going to leave a mark.

"I don't know but when you figure out how to stop moping like a little kid come and talk to me," she spat, Zuko looked at her as if he were actually surprised by her cold attitude, because he was. "Uncle loves you Zuko, he's going to forgive you, you were always his little favorite." She sneered and Zuko sighed.

"What's with you and favorites?" He asked before finally standing up to look her in the eye. "Look you were always dad's favorite, and mom felt sorry for me. But Uncle doesn't play favorites." He sneered, unable to believe his sister would say such a thing.

"Easy for you to say," Azula argued, "you always had too much heart for dad's liking, and so he tried to break you. Mom and Uncle loved you, no one ever loved me." She spat, her anger now boiling over and taking control of her mouth.

"Azula that's ridiculous-" Zuko started to say.

"Is it?!" Azula interrupted with a shout. "Dad didn't love me, he loved to manipulate me. Mother and Uncle never cared enough to notice and you and I both know that you never loved me!" She all but shouted, Zuko was completely taken back by this, but as much as he hates to admit it, she's right. Maybe not about mom and Uncle, they may not have known how to show it but they always have loved her. But she's right about him; he used to hate her.

"I'm sorry," he finally said and she eyed him curiously, clearly she had been expecting him to try and tell her she was wrong, not apologize. "I was always so caught up in how much dad hated me and wondering what happened to mom, I never realized that I wasn't only one dad was hurting. But I had Uncle with me, you've always been alone." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder that she quickly shrugged off.

"I had dad," she said half heartedly, of course they both knew that their father was the reason she was always alone in the moments she needed love the most.

Zuko just gave her a ghost of a half smiling before he caught her way off guard and pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her in a hug.  
"Now you have us, and I know it might not mean much now, but I love you." He told her and slowly her stiff body became more relaxed and she wrapped her arms around her brother, because that meant more to her than he could ever know.

Just at that moment Toph's earth tent went crumbling back into the ground and a ring of fire shot up all around them, so it's extremely understandable that Azula and Zuko quickly jumped apart. As everyone got to their feet and looked around for an attacker four figures appeared at the top of the wall.

"Well look who's here," one of the figures said before beginning to laugh in a very familiar way.

The four came down, rather quickly and impressively given that they appeared to be very old.

"What's going on?" Toph asked, "We're surrounded by old people," she continued.

"Not just any old people, these are great masters and friends of ours." Katara explained with a smile as she approached her waterbending master. "Pakku," she greeted her master happily and respectfully with a bow, which he returned.

"It is respectful to bow to an old master," he said, "But how about a hug? For your new grandfather." He announced and while Sokka freaked out Katara ran into the older man's arms. However it wasn't long after she let go that Sokka threw his arms around the new family member.

"Welcome to the family gramp-gramp!" He happily exclaimed and the older man had to pry him off.

"You can still just call me Pakku," he said

"How about gramp-Pakku?!" Sokka excitedly suggested, behind him Azula face palmed.

"No," Pakku shot the idea down immediately.

"Gramp-Pakku?" Azula snickered as Sokka came trudging back to the group.

"Shut up," he muttered.

"So wait, how do you all know each other?" Suki questioned

"All old people know each other, don't you know that?" King Bumi asked with a cackle.

"Great, his royal insaneness." Azula muttered under her breath.

"Oh the Fire Nation princess, hmm..." He said, coming to loom over Azula creepily.

"Can I help you?" She questioned, glaring back at the mental case of a king.

"Of course!" Bumi answered with a shout, "But first, can we help you kids is the question?" He asked

"Aang's gone missing and with the comet getting closer we came looking for Iroh, hoping that maybe he could help us. We tracked him here," Katara explained

"Iroh is here," Master Piandao confirmed with a nod, "in fact he's the one who called us all here."

"What do you mean?" Sokka questioned

"We're all part of the same ancient secret society, a group that transcends the divisions of the four nations." His swords master explained.

"The Order of The White Lotus," Zuko realized with a smile.

"That's the one!" Bumi confirmed.

"The White Lotus has always been about philosophy, and beauty, and truth. But about a month ago the call came that we were needed for something important." Jeong Jeong explained.

"The call came from Iroh of the Fire Nation, your Uncle." Pakku said to Zuko and Azula, while Zuko smiled with pride Azula merely rolled her eyes.

"Seriously what were you doing these last three years?" She questioned her brother; lately it seems like every five seconds she's discovering some other adventure he had.

But Zuko ignored her, and only listened as Piandao spoke.

"Come, we will take you to him." He said and so the group followed him and the other masters into the night.

* * *

"Well here we are, welcome to old people camp." Bumi announced once they reached a group of tents hidden in the forest not far from the wall.

"Your uncle's in there," Piandao said to Zuko and Azula, pointing to a rather large tent about twenty feet away.

With a deep breath Zuko made his way towards the tent but once he got there he looked behind him to see that Azula wasn't following.

"You're not coming?" He asked and she shook her head. "Come on," he pleaded but she only seemed to shrink in on herself. "Ok," he agreed, because he could tell that the less he tried to change her mind the better.

So he let her walk away before he walked into the tent himself, and when he did he found his uncle sound asleep. So with a smile he took a seat on the floor to patiently await for his uncle to wake up.

* * *

"Hey," Sokka said when he saw Azula walking by, and in the direction opposite her uncle's tent.

"Hi," she said to him dryly.

"How are you doing?" He asked and she scoffed as they began to walk together.

"Let's see," she started with a sigh, "In the past two weeks I've been kidnaped, paralyzed, shot, and found out my father really never cared about me… I'm great." She sarcastically decided on.

"I meant your shoulder," Sokka said and it took all of Azula's self control not to face palm, but of course her face still turned bright red. "But thanks for sharing," Sokka said after hearing her answer.

"My shoulder's fine," She insisted defensively, rightfully embarrassed by her misunderstanding of his question.

"Glad to hear it, and look I know we've put you through a lot in the past two weeks but we're all really proud of you." He said and Azula just raised an eyebrow in confusion. Out of all the words he could've said, proud was not one she had expected. "I mean, not only did we paralyze you, but because of us you've gone through a lot and yet you're letting us help you instead of going out on your own to try and get revenge on your father. Not to mention you're not even making this about revenge, well not completely anyway." He explained himself and so Azula sighed as they stopped walking.

"Yeah well I've gone through enough of life alone, and you guys had plenty of chances to kill me but you didn't, so I figure I can at least go along with your plan provided it ends with the end of my father's life." She explained and Sokka smirked, knowing that was the closest thing to a thank you they may ever get out of Azula, and she had confided it to him.

"You coming to bed or are you not tired?" He asked her and it took a moment for her to get it. He was inviting her to go sleep camped out around Appa with them. All this time she had been isolated for her nights in either Zuko's tent or her own bedroom at the house, the only exceptions being the nights spent traveling. Earlier tonight no one had said anything to her, but she had assumed she was expected to sleep away from the others in a pile of rubble. But now it was clear that they actually wanted her, or least didn't mind her, with them.

"I'm coming to bed," she decided with a smile before following Sokka off in the direction of where they had parked the bison.

When they arrived they found Katara and Suki already asleep, Suki lying on Appa's tail and Katara on one of his legs. While Toph was probably asleep, it was hard to tell given that she was on the ground with her earth tent around her. Sokka immediately went and claimed the spot next to his girlfriend while Azula thought about where she should sleep. Maybe Sokka didn't mind her being around, and maybe the others didn't either, but even so she still didn't feel as though she had earned her place among them yet. So she simply lay down on the ground and closed her eyes, but not even a second later she heard a very low roar. She just barely had time to open her eyes before she felt Appa's teeth biting gently down on the back of her shirt.

"Hey!" she snapped but the beast ignored her and lifted her off the ground before he placed her down gently on one of his legs.

At first Azula was, understandably, very confused by this. But when the creature simply returned to his own slumber she decided she might as well do the same and made herself comfortable where he had set her down.

* * *

Zuko still couldn't believe that his uncle could be so forgiving, and yet somehow it really didn't surprise him. Uncle Iroh has always been so caring, but to easily forgive something like this Zuko had thought might be too much to ask. But he was forgiven and so before they went out and joined the others he had to say one last thing, he had to tell his uncle about Azula.

"I know Azula's never been trustworthy, but I really believe that she's changed." He explained and Iroh thought heavily on the news.

"Azula has always placed her own needs for power above the well being of others, but you are right, like you she is still growing up. Not to mention that at her age you were still far from redemption, but her time has come sooner and it has come very quickly." The old man finally said,

"So do you think we can trust her?" Zuko asked as Iroh stroked his beard, still very deep in thought. He wanted so badly for his uncle to say yes, because he does trust her. But he's seen her change, he's heard her break, he's watched her struggle, he knows she's sincere. But convincing someone else, someone who despite being so willing to guide his nephew has always known better than to trust his niece. That was going to be a whole other story.

"I don't know," Iroh finally said, "But I trust you Zuko, and I trust your judgment. If you truly trust your sister, then so will I." He said and Zuko smiled in response, how could he not?

* * *

Outside, team Avatar and the White Lotus were gathering around for breakfast when Zuko and Iroh emerged from the tent, and Azula promptly hid herself in the small crowd as best she could.

"Come on," Sokka encouraged her when he noticed she was trying to hide. "Just sit down and eat breakfast." He said this as if he was annoyed, like he couldn't believe she was trying to hide. Ordinarily she would've argued with him, but he took a seat both next to Suki and as far away from Iroh as one could get in the small circle so she took the hint and sat between Suki and Katara.

"It is good to see you Azula," Iroh said with a smile but Azula barely acknowledged it while she picked at her stew.

"Uncle," she said emotionlessly, had she been looking up she would've noticed how badly Zuko was wishing he were sitting next to her so that he could jab her in the ribs.

But Iroh appeared unfazed by the cold shoulder he was receiving, and instead he turned to address the entire group.

"I can only assume what this is about," he said and Zuko nodded,

"Aang's disappeared," he announced, "Uncle, you're the only one other than the Avatar who could possibly defeat the fatherlord." He said

"You mean the Firelord," Toph corrected

"That's what I just said," Zuko snapped, obviously knowing that it isn't.

"No it's not," Azula said just to bug him, he growled at her but Iroh interrupted before either of them could say anything else.

"Hmm…" He hummed lowly with a very heavy amount of concentration.

"We need you to come with us," Zuko pleaded and Azula tightened her grip on her chopsticks,

 _"Unfortunately,"_ she thought to herself.

"No Zuko, it won't turn out well." Iroh finally insisted,

"You can beat him, and we'll be there to help." Zuko said, still trying to persuade his uncle.

"Even if I did defeat Ozai, and I don't know if I could, it would be the wrong way to end the war. History would just see it as more senseless violence, a brother killing a brother to grab power. The only way for this war to end peacefully is for the Avatar to end the Firelord." He explained and Azula couldn't tell if she loved or hated how much sense this made to her.

"And then… then would you come and take your rightful place on the throne?" Zuko asked hopefully, but Iroh didn't look very enticed by the offer.

"No," he answered, "Someone new must take the throne, an idealist with a pure heart and unquestionable honor. It has to be you Prince Zuko," he said and the biggest surprise for the group there came with the fact that Zuko seemed more shocked by the suggestion than Azula.

"Unquestionable honor?" He asked in total disbelief, "but I've made so many mistakes." He reminded his uncle, and everyone else for that matter.

"Yes, you have." Iroh agreed, "You've struggled, you've suffered, but you have always followed your own path. You restored your own honor, and only you can restore the honor of the Fire Nation." He said but Zuko still looked unsure of the idea.

"Azula," he said, causing his sister to look up for the first time during this conversation. "You've been working to become the Firelord your whole life, and you're not the person you were a few weeks ago-" he started to say but Azula shaking her head caused him to stop.

"Thanks Zuko, it means a lot that you'd trust me like that. But Uncle's right, becoming the Firelord is your destiny, not mine." She admitted and out of the corner of her eye she caught her uncle smiling, but she said nothing about it.

"I'll try," Zuko finally agreed.

"Well what if Aang doesn't come back?" Toph asked, voicing the question on everyone's mind.

"Sozin's comet is arriving, and our destinies are upon us. Aang will face The Firelord," Iroh assured all of them. "When I was a boy I had a vision that I would one day take Ba Sing Se, only now do I see that my destiny is to take it back from the Fire Nation so the Earth Kingdom can be free again." He said and the story reminded Azula of something, something that she needed to do.

"There are a lot of people in Ba Sing Se, and there will be a lot of Fire Nation soldiers there to stop you." She said and Iroh nodded,

"What do you think we should do?" He asked her and Azula had to admit that that came as a surprise to her. She had expected her uncle to tell her that he has everything under control, and that he's already thought of that and has the solution all ready; she didn't expect him to ask for her opinion.

"There's a prison located underneath the Earth King's palace, the Fire Nation started using it to hold prisoners after they conquered the city. I can think of four prisoners down there who'd be able to help prevent any casualties." She said slyly as she eyed Suki who immediately understood who these prisoners were.

"Very well," Agreed Iroh,

"What about us?" Sokka asked, "What's our destiny today?" He continued, knowing that his original battle plan was now broken considering Suki would without a doubt be going to Ba Sing Se with Azula.

"What do you think it is?" Iroh asked the young warrior.

"I think that even though we don't know where Aang is, we need to do everything we can to stop the airship fleet." Sokka answered, more determination in his eyes and voice than ever before.

"That means when Aang does face The Firelord, we'll be right there if he needs us." Toph determined, punching her own hand for effect.

Iroh smiled and nodded at the decision before he stood up, because the time to go was drawing closer and closer.

"Today's battle will be larger than anything any of us have ever faced, I wish you luck my friends. I hope that when this is over we will all meet again, in a better world."

* * *

Not even twenty minute later and everyone was preparing to leave. Katara was securing the saddle for the eel-hound she and Sokka would be taking to the Fire Nation, Toph and Zuko would be taking another one.

"Thank you," a nervous sounding voice said from behind her, she turned around to see Azula standing there.

"For what?" The water bender asked in confusion.

"For everything you've done for me," The princess cleared up.

"Sokka passed along your message," Katara said and Azula chuckled, she hadn't actually expected Sokka to do that.

"Still, you guys saved my life, thank you." She said again and based on the way she said it Katara understood that she meant they had saved her life in more than one way.

"You're welcome, good luck today." She finally said and Azula nodded,

"You to," she said and Katara beamed and then Azula walked away back to her group.

As she left Sokka came up behind Katara and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you ready?" He questioned as she turned around and she couldn't help but smile as she looked up at him, clad in his soldier's uniform.

"Let's do this," She answered him.


	16. Chapter 16

Due to the fact that 'old people camp', as King Bumi had dubbed it, was right outside Ba Sing Se it wasn't going to take Suki and Azula long to get to the city. The problem was more along the longs of getting past the hundreds of guards spread throughout the city, particularly the ones stationed around the palace.

"Alright, you're the one who designed these security measures, how do we get anywhere near the palace?" Suki asked after the other's had left and she and Azula were about to leave.

"By getting rid of the guards." Azula answered simply but Suki only arched an eyebrow when she didn't elaborate.

"Ok… so how do we do that?" She asked,

"Simple, you find some new clothes-" Azula cut herself off as a new thought entered her mind, mostly because she knew there'd be no way Suki would be able to find any Earth Kingdom clothes and now she was seeing how they could not only work around that but even use it to their advantage. "On second thought, just dirty those up a little." She instructed with a mischievous grin, Suki just eyed her curiously.

* * *

Less than an hour before the comet was due to arrive the two girls found themselves sneaking around by the wall that separated the middle and upper rings. Suki, although she wasn't sure why at first, did as Azula asked and dirtied her clothes up so that they looked like she had already been in a fight. Azula also altered her outfit by rubbing dirt on herself and tearing her skirt, she also removed her bandages so that her still healing wounds were exposed.

"What happens if your father warned them not to trust you if you did turn out to be alive?" Suki asked as Azula bound her wrists together with a rope.

"Then it's the two of us against roughly five or six idiots, I think we'll be fine." She answered distractedly.

"If we'll be fine then why are we even bothering with trying to trick them?" Suki snapped,

"Because once we get your friends we're going to have to fight them when they have the comet on their side, so I'd rather not waste our energy beforehand." Azula snapped back.

"You'll have the power from the comet too!" Suki argued,

"One firebender vs. five firebenders isn't exactly the best odds," Azula argued.

"Hey! What are you girls doing down there?" A voice called from the top of the wall.

"Showtime," Azula smirked as she emerged from the bush they were hiding behind, dragging Suki along with her.

"Oh nothing except for YOUR job apparently," She called back to the guard, her voice suddenly so venomous and icy that Suki was beginning to wonder if Azula had just double-crossed them all.

"Pra-Princess Azula!" The guard stuttered before he practically sprinted down the steps that led up the wall.

"This is just an act, right?" Suki asked while the two of them waited for the guard.

"What's the matter, don't trust me?" Azula snickered in response but before Suki could answer the guard reached the ground and was hurrying over to them.

"Princess! You, your father, The Firelord-" The guard was stuttering like his brain had been turned off, and it was something that Azula and Suki did not have time for.

"Let me guess, he told everyone I was dead?" Azula interrupted and with a gulp the guard nodded. "Well I can assure you I'm not, but with the comet drawing so near The Firelord didn't want word getting out that he couldn't track down his own daughter. I finally made it back here where I found this spy right under your feet!" She continued as she all but yanked Suki's arm for emphasis. "The leader of the Kyoshi Warriors no less, you're lucky I don't report you when all this is over!" She shouted at the guard.

"My apologies princess," the guard said, still partially stunned by the fact that he was even having this conversation. "I'll take it from here," he said, moving to take Suki but Azula shoved passed him and dragged the warrior with her.

"Please, if it weren't for me she would've taken you down before you ever saw her coming, I'll handle her." She said and, seeing no reason not to, the guard let her pass.

* * *

"I'll be honest, there was a few minutes there I thought you were actually going to throw me in jail," Suki said once she and Azula were in the entryway of the palace dungeon and Azula was untying her wrists.

"If we're being honest then I might as well tell you that the thought crossed my mind," Azula admitted and Suki couldn't help but wonder why Azula hadn't double-crossed them as the ropes fell from her wrists. But she wouldn't ask, because judging by Azula's hard face she didn't want to answer.

"Come on, they're down here." The firebender said before taking off down the high staircase the girls were currently at the top of.

Suki, understandably, was still skeptical about whether or not Azula was leading her into a trap but that being said she still opted to follow the princess deeper into the prison.

* * *

Meanwhile in the Fire Nation the eel-hounds had just made it to shore with their passengers. The group of four raced up the mountainside to the location for the air fleet, but found themselves too late.

"No!" Katara shouted after Sokka, who had been the farthest ahead, announced that the fleet was already taking off.

"All this for nothing," Zuko muttered, kicking a rock down the mountainside.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Toph decided before she turned to Zuko, remembering a comment he had made on the way here that he could see the comet already. "A long time ago I heard something about powerful firebenders being able to use fire to fly, can you propel yourself to the nearest airship?" She demanded and despite her blindness Zuko still looked at her as though she were insane.

"Probably but-"

"Go! We'll be right behind you!" She shouted at him and so with fear of being maimed if he didn't listen Zuko did as he was told.

"Toph how are we-" Katara began but just like Zuko she was interrupted.

"Where's the closest airship?" The blind girl demanded,

"It's right-" Sokka was cut off because when he pointed Toph followed the direction of his finger and grabbed hold of her friends before launching them onto the ship.

The two Water Tribe teens tried to shout as they soared through the air but the force of gravity pushing back on them was too much and forced their mouths to remain clamped shut. When they began descending, however, they involuntarily separated from Toph and each landed with a thud on the hard metal deck of the ship while thankfully Zuko managed to catch Toph.

"Are you insane?!" He demanded of the earthbender as he set her on her feet.

"Little bit," Sokka answered for her.

"Insane or not we've got to move!" Katara exclaimed before any sort of argument could ensue.

"This way," Zuko said before running down the deck, the others hot on his tail.

* * *

"Suki?" A voice came asking as Suki and Azula neared the prison cells.

"Found them," Azula said smugly when they reached the cells.

There weren't many prisoners; in fact only three cells were in use. Each cell contained two girls, two cells containing two Kyoshi Warriors and one cell containing two people Azula never expected to see here; Mai and Ty Lee.

"Girls!" Suki exclaimed happily as he began making work on one of the locks.

While she was doing that Azula made her way over to Mai and Ty Lee's cell, since she knew both the girls had noticed her by now. Mai was leaning casually against the back wall while Ty Lee was hanging upside down off the top bunk, big surprise there.

"Azula?" Ty Lee questioned,

"I thought you two were at the boiling rock?" Azula asked and Mai's frown deepened.

"The princess of the Fire Nation arrested us for treason and claimed we were to rot, they transferred us here so that we would die with the rest of the Earth Kingdom." She explained darkly, a hint of hatred in the typically stoic girl's voice.

Azula frowned, honestly she didn't really know if she was still mad at her old friends or not. She knew that she had been wrong in what she tried to do, but their betrayal still hurt. That being said she was sure of one thing, she doesn't want them dead.

"Well if it makes you feel any better I died the day after you were locked up," She said and while Mai's face didn't change Ty Lee rolled over onto her stomach and eyed the princess quizzically.

"What do you mean?" She asked before gasping, "Are you a ghost?" She questioned,

"No Ty Lee I am not a ghost," Azula answered with a roll of her eyes. "I fought Zuko the next morning and fell off a cliff, him and his friends took me captive. While they were holding me captive an assassin tried to kill me, he was sent by my father who along with the rest of the world thinks the attempt was successful. Of course anyone outside of The Firelord's close circle believes I died when I fell off the cliff." She explained and based on the visible wounds on her shoulder the two girls knew she was, for once, telling the truth.

"Then I guess you really don't know people as well as you think you do," Mai finally said and just like her Azula's face didn't change.

"Perhaps, but I'm still hoping you won't kill me the instant I let you go." She said and before Mai could even question her she had picked the lock of the cell and opened the door.

Azula wasn't sure what she had expected of Mai, but Ty Lee she had expected to jump off the bed and run out of the cell. Instead the circus performer climbed down slowly, so slowly in fact that Mai was out of the cell first.

"If you try anything-" The knife thrower began to warn but Azula cut her off.

"I won't." She spat, "Look I'm not here to apologize, and I'm not expecting an apology from you. I'm freeing you because I was wrong to imprison you in the first place." She explained and Mai held her gaze for a moment before she turned away and left the dungeon.

Just as she left Ty Lee finally made her way out of the cell,

"Thank you," she said, still unable to believe what had just happened.

"Don't mention it," Azula said and just then Suki's voice cut through the heavy tension still left behind by Mai.

"Let's go!" She shouted and so Azula and Ty Lee followed Suki and the other Kyoshi Warriors out of the dungeon.

Once they reached the top of the stairs taking out the guards was easy, every single one of them was so surprised by freed prisoners that they barely had any time to react before they were taking down, however Suki did become very confused and slightly concerned when one of her warriors made a guard fall completely limp.

"Whoa, where did you learn that?" She asked and her friend pointed proudly to Ty Lee.

"She's been teaching us chi blocking," she answered proudly and Suki smirked, she had to admit that it's nice to have chi blocking on their side.

"Ok listen up!" She said, quickly moving past her friends' new skills. "Ba Sing Se is about to be reclaimed in the name of the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation troops here are going to fight back with everything they've got. Our job is to prevent casualties and help take back the city any way we can." She explained, "Got it?" She concluded and the others all nodded.

* * *

Back on the airship Katara had taken the wheel and under Sokka's instructions they had just dropped the entirety of the crew into the ocean. After that was done they wasted no time in catching the ship back up to the rest of the fleet.

"Firelord Ozai, here we come." Sokka said but it soon became clear that they were going to have to move a lot faster. "We're not going to catch up to him in time!" He exclaimed with the realization.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Katara shouted back,

"It's not going to matter," Zuko said darkly, just as he did a long explosion of fire it the shore below them.

"Wait," Katara said as she suddenly noticed the lead airship go crashing down. Sokka saw this two and immediately took out his telescope.

"What's going on?" Zuko asked and Sokka's face lit up.

"It's Aang! He's back!" The Water Tribe boy cheered.

* * *

In Ba Sing Se the battle for the city was well underway. Walls of fire were springing up everywhere and people we're running around the city in a panic. So far preventing casualties was turning out to be a mostly successful assignment, and the tanks of the Fire Nation were being taking out quickly. The Kyoshi Warriors, along with Azula and Ty Lee, were spread out throughout the city mostly working on their own when Azula ran into Suki.

"Most of the upper ring's been evacuated, we're falling back." Suki reported,

"Fine by me," Azula said and so she followed Suki down the street and closer to the wall when suddenly an extremely powerful trail of fire came blazing by them, just barely missing them.

The two girls turned to see a fire navy tank drawing closer and shooting blast after blast at them. They tried to dodge the oncoming flames, and having Azula there to redirect some of the blasts certainly made it easier. That being said the drive of a second tank clearly realized that blasting fire was getting his friend nowhere so he rammed the tank at full speed and charged the girls. Azula saw this out of the corner of her eye and on instinct made a move to generate lightening so she could fry the tank, momentarily forgetting what happened last time she tried lightening.

Suki, however, was too busy dodging the fire coming from the first tank to even notice the second one, until a streak of lightening shot past her. Her eyes followed the electric trail until it reached and fried the tank. Unable to believe what she had just witnessed Suki turned around to Azula standing not far from her, looking just as amazed with what hap happened.

"Thanks," Suki finally managed to say, Azula simply nodded in reply, still amazed that she had managed to successfully generate lightening.

"Let's just get out of here," she said and so the two continued down the street.

They ran through most of the upper ring only coming in contact with trouble a few times, and hardly anything serious. But the closer they drew to the wall the more danger they were in and so by the time they actually reached the wall both Suki and Azula figured they were lucky to be alive. Fire was coming at them in all directions and it was coming so fast that it was getting hard to see straight. So naturally it shouldn't really be a surprise that Azula was so busy deflecting one large blast that she didn't even notice another one coming right for her. She did notice, however, when an unseen force suddenly pulled her from where she stood and pinned her against what was left of the upper ring's great wall. She was pinned by a dagger in the sleeves of one arm, and so for a moment she half expected Mai to come out and stab a second dagger through her heart. But she didn't. Instead Azula watched as a trail of fire blazed through the exact spot where she had been standing just moments ago, eyes wide.

"Thanks," she finally breathed once the moment had passed and she pried herself free from the wall.

* * *

The battle that day ended with the successful reconquering of Ba Sing Se and the defeat of the Firelord, so aside from Sokka breaking his leg the day proved to be a success. It was a few weeks later, after most things had found a sense of normalcy, that Zuko was officially being crowned Firelord. He was in the palace getting ready when he heard a voice coming from the doorway.

"And the banished prince returns," it teased but when he turned Zuko couldn't helped but smile because he knew that his sister meant well.

"We're both back," he said firmly as she made her way into the room but she shook her head, and he frowned. "Wait, you're not staying?" He asked her and she folded her arms across her stomach, obviously nervous about the coming conversation.

"If I wanted to stay I would've put up more of a fight aver you becoming Firelord," she pointed out, she may have accepted that Zuko is more ready to take the throne than she is but at the same time he doesn't have the training that she does, the one good thing Ozai ever did for her.

"Where are you going?" He asked but she just looked at her feet; that was the one question she did not want to answer.

"I don't know," she replied, "Right now I just want to get away from here," she continued and Zuko smiled, so she smirked. "Don't worry, I'm staying through your ceremony." She said and Zuko chuckled.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," a new voice came from the doorway and the two siblings looked to see Mai there.

"Not at all," Azula said before exiting the room, "see you later Zuzu," she called back over her shoulder.

"She's still using that nickname?" Mai asked,

"I don't think that's ever going to change." Zuko laughed in response, "So do you still hate me?" He asked but Mai actually smiled, "On the contrary, I actually kind of like you." She said before pulling Zuko in for a kiss. "But don't ever break up with me again," she warned once she pulled away, poking him in the shoulder for effect.

* * *

After she left Zuko with Mai, Azula went outside where she soon found the two Water Tribe siblings wandering through the crowd.

"Hey," Sokka said when he saw her,

"Hey," she said back, "What are you two up to?" She asked

"We're looking for our dad," Katara answered,

"Yeah and I think this crutch is broken," Sokka complained before Katara's face lit up.

"There's dad!" She shouted, taking off through the crowd with Sokka hobbling clumsily after her.

"Katara! Katara wait up!" Sokka called before his wobbly crutch nearly fell out from under him; fortunately for him Azula caught his arm and helped him limp over to his father.

"Thanks," he said as she helped him along.

"I figure I owe you one," she shrugged.

"Yeah that's right, leave your brother behind." Sokka said to Katara when he and Azula finally caught up.

"Sorry," Katara said has Hakoda placed a hand on his sons shoulder. "I'm proud of you Sokka, you were a true warrior." He praised his son who smiled up at him.

"I had a great teacher," he said and just then Suki and the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors found them.

"There's my favorite warriors!" He exclaimed, "I have to admit I kind of miss the face paint, so how's it feel to be back in uniform again?" He asked but it wasn't Suki who answered his question, it was Ty Lee.

"It feels great!" She exclaimed, emerging from the back of the group. Azula just smiled and shook her head at this.

"I thought you hated being part of a matched set?" She teased but there was a lot of truth in that.

"This is different. As a Kyoshi Warrior I'm still myself but part of something bigger, that's what I love. Besides, the make-up comes off." She explained, just then a gong rang through the courtyard, the ceremony was starting.

Zuko came out onto the balcony dressed in his best robes for the occasion, and even Azula had to admit that her brother looked like he belonged up there. Aang followed him out and Azula couldn't help but notice the look of pride on Katara's face. Zuko gave his little speech about the end of the war, and for once Azula didn't find herself board to death by a speech, maybe Zuko does have what it takes to be Firelord.

"All hail Firelord Zuko!" The lead fire sage finally decreed as he crowned Zuko, applause erupted from the crowd and had Azula not had her hands full keeping Sokka balanced she would've clapped to, but instead she took a page out of Katara's book and just smiled proudly.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry for the delay on this chapter. I had a wicked bad case of writers block and just could not get through it. Also thanks a lot for all the great reviews and suggestions, they're really helping me with this story!**


	17. Chapter 17

She left that night.

Zuko asked her if she would at least stay the night and wait until morning to leave but she refused, she wanted to get away from this palace as soon as she possibly could. She said her goodbyes and her thanks to all of her new friends, and unsurprisingly Ty Lee gave her a bone-crushing hug, then she walked out of the city. As she left she reflected on what had just happened with a smile, never before in her life had goodbye been so hard.

When her mother left she didn't even say goodbye, when Zuko and Uncle left she hadn't been all that upset; she had been mostly afraid of what father might do to her once he found out she secured that ship. Every time she had ever left home before father had told to either come back with success or don't bother coming back at all. But this time, this time she had said goodbye to people and they told her they'd miss her. This time people had said they hoped to see her soon; this time had been different. So as she walked out of the city she almost wished she didn't feel this need to go and figure out her life for herself. But she did and so she left.

She wasn't all that worried about being recognized, while the Fire Nation royal family is known worldwide the amount of people who would actually recognize any of them on the street is actually a very low number. That being said, Azula still took some precautions to ensure that she would not be recognized. Although her new clothes already helped with that she had virtually destroyed them when sneaking into the prison. So before she left she went into her old room, something she really hated, and grabbed some different clothes. She selected and pair of pink colored pants, a long red sash that she tied around her waist, and tank top style red shirt. Her hair she decided to keep in a half up half down style. Zuko gave her some money before she left, as well as some food. She was careful to ration both the food and money as the days went on. She only ate a little bit of rice twice a day and she only used the money to either get a room in an inn for a night when it rained or if she needed to pick up some more food.

* * *

But all that was months ago. She left home months ago and had been wandering the outskirts of the Fire Nation alone ever since. She crossed into Earth Kingdom territory a few weeks ago, and so had been since making her way through there. She still had some of the money Zuko had given her when she left, but only because she was being extremely careful with it. Over the past few months Azula had learned something, and that something was that she does not like traveling alone. She's glad she left home, but she was starting to think that maybe she should've asked Zuko's friends if she could've gone with them wherever they were going.

 _"No, they wouldn't have wanted me. They were great to me but to them I'm just Zuko's little sister."_ She tried to tell herself. This, these thoughts, these thoughts are the very reason she's come to despise traveling everywhere on her own. She's always alone, always in her own head. Her only companion is herself and so her only conversations come with only herself, the only exceptions being whenever she stops at a market and some chatterbox running a stand tries making small talk with her.

Being so locked up in her thoughts has shown her that she really wasn't kidding when she told Zuko that she still has plenty of anger, because it's always there haunting her. She's realized that the reason she was able to pick up his new form of firebending so quick was because she had a goal, but now with no goal and anger that she refuses to use for fuel, she's angrier than ever and her bending is virtually useless. She thought going out on her own would help her clear her head, but it's only muddled it more. She can't go back home, she still believes that palace will only make things worse. But there is one place she can go and hopefully there she'll find the one person who might be able to help her.

* * *

"Thank you, come again." Iroh called to his last few customers as they exited the teashop. It was closing time, and just like he had done every other night for the past four months the retired general began sweeping his floors.

But tonight was not like any other night, tonight there was a slight tugging sound at the locked doors of the Jasmine Dragon and so out of curiosity Iroh went and poked his head out into the night. At first he saw nothing and thought maybe whomever it was realized the shop was closed and left. But before he could pull his head back into the shop he noticed the young woman sitting slumped on the ground, her knees drawn to her chest and her head facing away from him. She was well aware he had opened the door, but she didn't know what to do and so she pretended not to notice.

"Would you like to come in Azula?" The old man asked with a smile.

* * *

Azula sat staring at the surface of one of the restaurant tables as Iroh made some tea.

 _"What was I thinking coming here?"_ She asked herself mentally. In truth she actually did know what she was thinking, she was thinking she had no better option. She didn't want to go home, and she didn't want to stay by herself. So she reluctantly decided to come and find her uncle. She knew when she thought it over that she and her uncle don't have the best relationship, but she convinced herself that such a thing was all the more reason to come. Now though, now she was wracking her brain for an excuse to leave. Maybe if she just ran off while he was in the back he wouldn't come after her. She was confident that would work, he'd never run after her before, why start now?

She never tested the idea, however, because her uncle returned at that moment with two cups of tea.

"How have you been these past few months Azula?" He asked, setting one cup in front of her as he sat down and took a sip of his own tea.

"Alright, what about you?" She asked politely, or as politely as she could manage anyway. For a moment she just sat there holding the cup, letting it's heat warm her palms and take away the cold still left on her skin from the outside air.

"I have been well thank you," Iroh answered and neither of them said anything for a good two or three minutes after that.

"I don't know why I'm here," Azula finally said to break the ever-growing silence.

"I didn't ask," Iroh replied, "But I am very happy to see you," he said and although she would've expected it to, that somehow didn't surprise Azula.

"How's your tea shop going?" She asked, trying to avoid explaining her inner turmoil at all costs. It seemed to work because Iroh grinned hugely.

"It's going very well, but I fear that I will soon need to hire some extra help." He said to her and she couldn't help but scoff.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," she said, "Doesn't that mean you have a good amount of business?" She asked but Iroh only sighed.

"Yes but I opened this shop to be a new life for myself, and I would like to share it with my family. But without your brother…" he trailed off and at least on a subconscious level Azula knew what he was doing, and she doesn't take kindly to being manipulated these days, but she let him get away with it. This is something she wanted as well, and at least this way she could pretend to keep her pride.

"Well, I know I'm not my brother…" she started to say but as her uncle's face lit up she was unsure of how to finish. "I'll stay if you want me to," she finally managed.

"Nothing would make me happier." Iroh replied with a smile.

* * *

After clean up was finished Iroh brought Azula to his apartment down the street from the shop. Azula had to admit that it was a nice apartment; it was on the fourth floor of the building and had a large kitchen, a smaller but still large living area, two bedrooms, and a bathroom.

"Nice place," she said, she needed to say something.

"Thank you, the spare bedroom is through there if you would like to get settled in." Iroh replied and with a nod Azula followed his directions and made her way to the room.

Inside the room was mostly bare, though it was pretty decent size for an apartment bedroom. The twin-sized bed was pushed up against the left wall and had green blankets that matched the green walls. There was a wooden nightstand next to the head of the bed, and a green area rug spread over the wooden floor. There was also a window on the right wall that let in the moonlight of the night, however Azula still lit the lantern located on the wall next to the door. The room hardly looked like it had ever been touched and so Azula wondered if Zuko ever lived in here. She assumed he did, at least for a short time before he betrayed Uncle.

With a sigh she shut the door and went and sat on the bed as the memories of those days began flooding her mind. She hated looking back on those days because of what her father had been doing to her, and because of the person she had been. But at least back then her life had a path, at least back then she knew where she was going. But now Zuko was Firelord, and from what she knew he was doing a pretty good job; at any rate he is much better for the world than she would've been. Last she heard he was removing the Fire Nation colonies from the Earth Kingdom, something she probably wouldn't have done. She's come to accept that the throne was never her destiny, that Zuko was the right choice for it. But that being said she now has to build a new life, and that's something she doesn't really know how to do.

"Maybe I need to stop trying so hard," She muttered to herself as she lay down on the bed. Throughout her whole life she had planned out everything ahead of time, calculated everything she was going to do, and look where that got her. So maybe the answer to finding herself was to do the opposite. Maybe instead of trying to make a plan she should just give up and take everything that comes one day at a time.

In that moment Azula decided that she was done trying to figure things out, she was just going to go to sleep and see what tomorrow brings for her.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys, i know this chapter is really short but i promise that it will be the only one. Also, for those of you waiting for a romantic ship, i promise you that we have not seen the last of team avatar!**


	18. Chapter 18

Adjusting to working at the teashop didn't take Azula as long as she would've thought. There were a few other people who Iroh employed there; two women named Jia and Yingtai, and a man named Guang. Jia and Yingtai were in their early twenties while Guang was almost eighteen, making Azula the youngest. However being the youngest wasn't what turned out to be her problem, what her problem turned out to be was the fact that they all knew who she was. You see they knew who Iroh was and so when he introduced her as his niece… well yeah that had about the expected reactions. The worst part about it was that she knew the only way to prove to them that she had changed was to bite her tongue and put up with anything and everything they threw her way. Uncle had her waiting tables, so she was working with Guang most of the time, as Jia and Yingtai rotated the role of hostess.

Guang wasn't that bad, he sure didn't hate her as much as Jia and Yingtai did. Actually that's probably not true, he hates her about as much as the girls do. The difference is in the way he shows it. Jia and Yingtai show it the way you would expect two girls to show their hatred for someone, by talking about her behind her back. Now of course that's normally something she can handle, but if she wants these people to like her then saying worse things to their faces probably isn't the way to go. Guang is a bit easier to put up with. He was always making snide remarks and teasing comments that were meant to be hurtful, but at least he was saying them to her face. It might sound strange but she was actually relieved that Guang threw his insults right in her face; at least with him she could throw it back.

So Guang was her saving grace. He allowed her to insult him; after all she was only defending herself. So off of those interactions the two built some form of strange friendship.

"So, what are your plans for the night?" He asked her one night as the two of them were waiting for closing time to roll around, they only had about twenty more minutes and the teashop was already mostly deserted, one table being the exception.

"Same as every night; go back to the apartment and play pai sho with my uncle." She answered with annoyance lacing her voice, considering Guang knew very well what her evening plans were. She came to Ba Sing Se to get herself around people and get out of her own head, but aside from Iroh she wasn't having much luck getting people to like her. Still, she wouldn't give up. She had learned through experience once already that if she gave people time to accept her, and if she accepted them, she would be able to find some friends.

"I figured," Guang chuckled, "Which is why I was wondering if maybe you'd want to join me tonight with some of my friends?" He asked, "We're just going to the zoo but I hope that beats pai sho with your uncle," He continued.

"For the billionth time," Azula muttered, "Sure, I'd love to go to the zoo." She agreed.

* * *

"When you invited me on your little zoo trip I assumed you knew whether or not the zoo was open," Azula found herself saying two hours later when she and Guang, along with his friends Amaya and Junjie, stood outside of the closed zoo.

"Hey the sign says it's open!" Junjie defended as Amaya scanned the sign.

"Hey, A.M. stupid." She scolded her boyfriend, grabbing his chin and turning his head to the sign.

"Oh, whoops." He said, pulling he head out of his girlfriend's grasp and sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ugh, so what now? We sneak in?" Amaya questioned sarcastically, although judging by looks her two friends and her boyfriend exchanged they were ignoring the sarcasm.

* * *

"Next time you earthbend us into a closed zoo maybe you should try being a little quieter." Guang said to Amaya as they all hopped off her earth platform and onto the zoo wall.

"Hey when you learn how to earthbend without making a sound, you can be in charge. Until then shut up and be grateful I went along with this," she scolded him; Azula couldn't help but giggle. Amaya then dropped their first platform and created a second one out of the wall, lowering them all down quickly and landing with aloud thud. "Don't say it," the earthbender snapped as more than half of the animals in the zoo roared in response to the loud crash.

"You did great babe," Junjie praised, placing one arm around his girlfriend's waist and pulling her into him, kissing the top of her head while she frowned; clearly disappointed in herself and fully aware that her boyfriend was lying to her.

"Ok so we broke into the zoo, now what?" Azula asked, being the first to step away from the group.

"Now we watch Junjie sneak into the Gemsbok Bull exhibit and try not to get himself killed," Guang suggested evilly.

"No, come on!" Amaya groaned protectively.

"Yes, he lost our bet so he pays the price." Guang mocked

"Aw come on," Amaya whined.

"Hang on, I want to hear about this bet." Azula said with sudden interest.

"These two have a bad habit of making idiotic bets with consequences that are even more idiotic." Amaya explained,

"This time the bet happened to be that Junjie couldn't fit more dumplings in his mouth than me," Guang proudly explained but Amaya just rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Which resulted in both of you choking I might add," she snapped.

"Whatever!" Guang quickly defended, although that was a far cry from a defense. "Look the point is that Junjie lost so now he has to pay the price," he continued.

"He's right, now quit worrying," Junjie agreed before addressing his girlfriend with a playful shove.

"Not on your life," Amaya replied with a grin while she shoved him.

"Ok come on Junjie," Guang pushed and Azula couldn't help but smirk as her friend dragged the other, rather unfortunate, boy over to the wall of the Gemsbok Bull enclosure.

"Ok Amaya, send him down." He ordered but Amaya folded her arms.

"I thought my earthbending was too loud for you?" She mocked,

"That's the point, the noise will wake it up!" Guang exclaimed,

"Oh for crying out loud," Junjie muttered in response to the argument before he simply jumped down into the enclosure.

The teens watched their friend pace around the enclosure, patiently waiting for them to get board so his girlfriend would bring him back up, and it wasn't taking long.

"Alright that thing isn't waking up," Guang said with disappointment.

"Works for me," Amaya said as she bent a platform out of the wall, however the sheer noise of it was much louder than necessary.

"Keep it down!" Junjie cringed as his girlfriend began to bring him back up.

"I'm trying," Amaya whispered loudly with annoyance; but the bull clearly didn't care that she was trying because the noise woke him up and he was not happy about it, not happy at all.

It went charging at the boy rising on a platform out of his habitat but Amaya got her boyfriend up just in time for the animal to go charging headfirst into the wall.

"That was close," he said as he leapt off of the platform, of course just at that moment the thud of people landing on the outer wall of the zoo caught the attention of the four teens.

"Freeze!" One of the men shouted at them, it was the newly inducted Ba Sing Se police force.

"Not close enough," Azula muttered.

* * *

"You broke into the zoo?!" Iroh demanded an hour later when Azula and Guang were sitting on his couch as if they were young children who had misbehaved in school and were now being dealt with by the headmaster.

Azula still didn't know why Guang was here; he had refused to tell the police where he lived even when they told him that if he didn't they would have to put him in prison for the night. When they asked Iroh the older man simply said that he was responsible for him.

"To be fair, I did tell you last week that we were going to push Junjie down into the Gemsbok Bull exhibit," Guang cringed but Iroh's glare didn't lessen one bit, not that either of the teens suspected it would.

"You two say you're going to do a lot of things," the older man scolded, referring to Guang and Junjie. He then sighed and pressed a frustrated hand against his forehead. "Go to bed, and tomorrow I am closing the shop for cleaning which is how both of you will spend the day." He decided and with her head hung low, but still relieved that cleaning was all she'd have to do, Azula stood up and went to her room. But just as she reached her door she saw, out of the corner of her eye, Iroh grab Guang gently but firmly by his arm. "No," he said to the boy, "it is late, sleep on the couch." He said.

Azula quickly entered her room and shut the door to avoid letting them know she had listened, but now questions about Guang's personal life were beginning to enter her mind. Tonight wasn't the first time he'd refused to say a word about his parents, in fact even when Jia once made a comment that he must have a good father (while she was hitting on him of course) he had been uncharacteristically stoic. As she changed into her pajama's she decided that it's probably none of her business, something her old self never would've been able to accept. But she likes Guang, as a friend anyway, and if she wants him to be her friend then she needs to trust that he'll tell her in his own time.

* * *

When morning rolled around Azula was up early, as usual. She had never cared much for sleeping late, not that she woke up at the crack of dawn but she certainly woke up sooner than Guang. Her friend was still snoring on the couch when she entered the kitchen and began preparing her breakfast. She smirked at the sight of him but soon grew annoyed with his snoring and tossed a roll at his head.

"Ah!" He yelped in surprise as he shot awake.

"Sorry did I wake you?" She taunted,

"Yeah but I'm guessing that was the idea," he replied as he grabbed the roll off the floor and took a bite out of it.

"It was," Azula admitted, "I figured you'd want to eat before we started scrubbing the teashop from top to bottom." She continued and Guang smirked.

"How sweet, didn't think you had it in you." He teased and Azula rolled her eyes, but before she could retort Iroh emerged from his bedroom.

"Take Azula's advise and eat something Guang, you're going to need your strength." He said, making it obvious that he had been listening.

* * *

Hours later and the two friends had been cleaning the teashop all morning.

"And here I thought Uncle didn't know how to punish," Azula commented as she scrubbed the underneath of the stove in the back of the kitchen.

"Don't let his sweet old man disguise fool you," Guang laughed from where he was harshly scarping some gunk that appeared to be glued to a pot Iroh said he wanted spotless.

"Why are you even here?" Azula questioned, standing up and cracking her back. "If you had just told the police where you live you wouldn't have to do this," she reminded him but he chuckled.

"And let you suffer alone?" He joked,

"I'm serious Guang," Azula said and this time her friend gave her a sigh, but before he had a chance to say anything the back door of the shop creaked open and a little girl peaked her head in, her face stained by tears.

"Guang!" She shouted, rushing into the back and jumping into the arms of the older boy, leaving Azula to stand there completely dumbfounded. "I got scared, I couldn't find you and, and," she began stuttering and crying as Guang held her with one arm and used the hand of the other to smooth her hair.

"Shh, calm down, you found me here. Now calm down," he said to her gently before he turned to Azula, knowing he had a lot of explaining to do.

"This is Rin, my little sister. Rin, this is my friend Azula." He introduced and somehow Azula was more taken off guard by the fact that he had called her his friend than anything else.

"Hi," Rin muttered, still pressing her head against her brother's shoulder.

"Hi," Azula said awkwardly.

Guang stood there for another minute or two, soothing his sister, before she finally allowed him to put her down.

"Alright, now Iroh's out in the dining room. Why don't you go see if he'll play Pai Sho with you?" He suggested as he handed his sister a cookie from the cabinet and her face instantly brightened.

"Ok," she agreed, rushing out of the room.

Once she was gone Azula wanted more than anything to ask about why she had shown up at the back door in tears, and based on how excited she became about playing Pai Sho Azula figured that this might be a typical thing. Guang looked embarrassed, like he really didn't want to explain himself, but he would.

"Well I might as well tell you," he huffed but Azula's next words caught even her by surprise.

"You don't have to," she said, Guang looked at her in surprise. "Much as I'd like to know, you don't have to tell me. Spirits know I wouldn't tell people why I live with my uncle if they didn't already know, your secrets are yours." She continued and for a moment they both accepted that fact, for a moment.

"We're not from here," Guang finally confessed,

"I just said you don't-"

"I know," he cut his friend off, "But we're from the middle ring, more specifically the middle ring's orphan population." He admitted, "During the chaos of Ba Sing Se's reconquering we followed some people who snuck through a break in the wall to the upper ring. I couldn't find a job in the middle ring but I thought that maybe I could find something here and give my sister a life, or at least a roof over her head. If I had told the police I'm homeless, they-"

"They would've thrown you out, most likely without Rin." Azula finished for him.

"Or at least put me in prison longer than a night," He said with a cringe.

"I'm sorry," Azula said, normally she wasn't one to apologize and especially not when she was nowhere near at fault, but she just didn't know what else to say.

"Don't be, things are starting to look up for us." He said with a sincere smile.

"Well I'm glad," Azula said with a smirk before tossing him her damp rag, "Now help me finish under the stove."


	19. Chapter 19

Azula soon grew used to seeing Rin around, that being said she still wasn't very good with the young girl. She was only five years old, and therefor she had a very small attention span. She wasn't around everyday, just whenever Guang worked late would she show up and sit in the back of the kitchen. She was very quiet for a child her age; she just sat there and stared at the wall until her brother told her that it was time to leave. However that's not to say she was without her inquisitive side. She knew just about everything she cared to about the teashop but that didn't stop her from constantly pestering Azula with questions whenever the two were alone.

"Where are you from?" She asked one night when closing was moving along relatively slowly and Azula was on dish duty while Guang swept the dining room.

"Capital City," Azula answered almost robotically.

"Why'd you move here?" Rin asked,

"Because I wasn't happy there," she replied.

"Why not?" Rin questioned

"None of your business," Azula answered coldly; ok even she knew that the attitude was uncalled for but her patients with this subject were paper thin already, having a five-year-old push at it is really only asking for trouble.

"Aw come on," Rin whined, "I'll tell you one of my secrets." She attempted to bargain

"Hmm, tempting… but no." Azula said and Rin frowned behind her, she wanted to know why the older girl had moved to live with her uncle in Ba Sing Se.

"Please…" she begged.

"No," Azula said again

"I won't tell anyone!" She tried

"Still no," Azula responded,

"But-"

"Rin whatever you're bugging her about, cut it out!" Guang's voice called in from the dining room and he poked his head into the window that saw into the kitchen.

"I just want to know why she wasn't happy when she lived in Capital City!" Rin tried to defend and Guang smirked.

"It was the Fire Nation Rin, would you have been happy?" He asked it like it was a joke, and in a way he was. He knew why Azula had left her old life, and he knew that his baby sister wouldn't be able to fully understand it. So he joked with her, and let her make her own assumptions for now.

"Oh," she replied and with that she returned to staring absently at the wall.

Azula then turned to the window where Guang was still eyeing his sister to be sure that she wouldn't say anything else.

"Thanks," she said

"No problem, and if she ever starts bugging you like that just tell her something simple; it'll shut her up." He advised and Azula nodded, grateful for the information.

* * *

As the months went by things actually started looking up for Azula. Not only did she somehow manage to work her way off Jia and Yingtai's bad sides but she also became good friends with Guang and his other friends. She learned that most of the time Guang stayed at Junjie's place, as did Rin, and that he and Rin weren't actually related. Their families had known each other and Rin lost her father in the war. She never explicitly asked Guang, as she knew she needed to respect his privacy, but from what she gathered Rin's mother had passed away a year ago due to an illness and his mother went the same way while his father had never been in the picture. Obviously this meant that Rin was all the family he had and vice versa, which is why the little girl was so upset the night Iroh had taken Guang with him to get supplies and they were late getting back, very late.

"But what if-"

"For the thousandth time Guang is not dead, hurt, captured, deported, or any other paranoia induced fate your mind has cooked up. He and my uncle are just running late." Azula snapped, she had cleaned up alone a hundred times before and often times enjoyed the quiet; something about being in her own head for a few hours wasn't all that bad when she didn't live there permanently. But tonight she wasn't alone when she should've been. Tonight she had a terrified little girl sitting on the counter and practically vibrating with the nervous energy that was coursing through her system.

"But-"

"No," she cut off again, "You need to relax, they'll be here soon." She said and for both Rin's sake and her own she prayed that she was right. She had been left instructions from her Uncle; should he and Guang be late she was to bring Rin back to the apartment for the night. This was something that she obviously had no interest in doing, as she has no experience with children whatsoever. But as the hours of the evening drug on the list of meaningless tasks for her to do dwindled more and more and more. Eventually she ran out of excuses and Rin moved on from panicking over her brother's 'disappearance' to whining about being tired.

"Can we please go now?" The little girl whined for the umpteenth time in the past half hour.

"Ugh, how does Guang deal with you?" Azula groaned, rubbing her temples in frustration. "Yes we can go," she said and suddenly all of Rin's energy, which supposedly had vanished over the course of the last hour, returned as she hopped off the counter and made a break for the door. "I thought you said we could leave?" She asked all of five seconds later and Azula rolled her eyes.

"Calm down, I need to find the keys first." She said; growing more and more fed up by the minute. She was rummaging through a drawer where her uncle kept the spare keys, very loudly in order to drown out the sound of Rin tapping her foot at the door impatiently.

"Azulaaaa," Rin whined and the older girl let a curse slip under her breath, and it was just loud enough for Rin to hear. "Guang says that's a bad word!" She gasped in horror and Azula growled again.

"Ok sorry it just slipped out," she said in annoyance.

"You're not supposed to say bad words, ever!" Rin lectured as her apparent babysitter approached the door and ushered her outside.

"Well I said I was sorry," she apologized again before locking the door and placing the key into her pocket. "Now lets go," she ordered and seeming to completely forget her previous anger over the foul language, Rin latched onto Azula's hand with both of her own and walked cautiously at her side. Cautiously and slowly, "Ugh, can't you go any faster?" Azula whined.

"No, I got little legs. Besides, it's dark and scary." Rin replied in a whimper of a voice and Azula rolled her eyes, she couldn't handle this. It's late; she purposely stayed at work much later than usual in order to give Guang and Uncle as much time as possible to get back before she was forced to take Rin with her to the apartment. But that turned out to be pointless and now she's tired and fed up to her absolute limit. So with no further patients to waste on dragging Rin down the street Azula bent down and lifted the little girl into her arms, somewhat surprised by how light she was. Not to mention how soft her head felt lying on her shoulder.

* * *

For the rest of the walk back to the apartment both the girls were silent and only when they reached the door did Azula finally put Rin down so that she could dig the key out of her pocket. As her feet hit the ground Rin leaned against the hallway wall for support, as she was practically asleep already. Azula looked down at her and smirked as she opened the door; even she had to admit that the little girl, obnoxious as she is, looked very cute and sweet while she was falling over asleep.

At the sound of the door creaking open Rin perked up and dragged her sleepy body into the apartment.

"Ok, hit the couch." Azula instructed her as she closed the door behind them, but Rin practically jumped out of her skin at the order.

"What?!" She yelped horror, "Aren't you going to stay with me?" She whined and Azula let out a loud groan.

"Don't even try that," she warned, "I am well aware that you sleep in your own bed at Junjie's place." She informed the young girl,

"Yeah in the same room as the boys!" Rin argued whilst stomping her foot down in protest, she did not want to be alone.

"Well the boys aren't here so you're sleeping on the couch," Azula tried to argue but she soon regretted it when it became obvious that her comment reminded the younger girl why she was here in the first place.

"Guang is coming back? Right?" She asked, her previously angry and hate filled voice suddenly soft and scared.

"Yes," Azula groaned, leaning her head back in frustration yet again. "And the sooner you go to sleep the sooner you'll get to wake up and see them," she tried in a more or less desperate attempt to get Rin to bed.

"Could, could I sleep with you?" She asked timidly and when Azula looked as though she was about to say no she hastily continued. "I promise I'll go right to sleep, I just, I just don't want to be alone." She pleaded and the older girl sighed,

"Fine," she agreed, she was tired too and getting to the point where she didn't care much about how anything got done if it meant she could get some sleep.

With a bright, and rather sudden, smile Rin raced off into the bedroom of her babysitter and was already crawling under the covers by the time Azula entered the doorway. The older girl sighed yet again upon seeing this, knowing that she was in store for a very long night.

* * *

Indeed it was a very long night. Although Rin did in fact keep her promise and go straight to sleep, or at least immediately rolled over and pretended she was asleep. But whether or not she fell asleep right away or not hardly matters, all that matters is that once she was asleep she tossed, turned, and kicked relentlessly. Azula tried desperately to get some sleep but it appeared to be in vain. Her bed was small and so there was no room for her to get away from constantly being kicked in the shin or jabbed in the ribs unless she wanted to roll off the bed entirely. Not that rolling off the bed was unlikely considering she was already clinging to the edge of it. Eventually, after what felt like hours, she heard the door to the apartment creak open followed by the sounds two people muttering to each other and trying to minimize the noise they made.

Not wanting to wake Rin and deal with any more of her whining for the night Azula was careful and quiet as she threw the blankets off herself and emerged from her room to greet her uncle and friend.

"Nice of you two to finally come home," she said maybe a little too coldly, especially when judging by how tired the two men appeared to be.

"It was a long trip," Iroh admitted, "Our usual supplier had his shop closed and forgot to send notice, so we had to go all the way to the base of the Skypeak Mountains." The old man groan and briefly Azula's eyes widened with surprise, in that case they had made pretty good time considering that the base of the Skypeak Mountains is halfway to the Northern Air Temple.

"I guess it was a long trip," she said and Iroh nodded before walking past her and into his bedroom without a word.

"So, how was Rin?" Guang chuckled tiredly once he was alone with his friend and he only laughed harder when she tipped her head back in annoyance. "That ain't good," he remarked, leaning forward against the countertop.

"I don't know what ever convinced you to willingly put yourself in charge of her," Azula groaned and again Guang couldn't help but laugh, getting probably a little too much enjoyment out of his friend's misery.

"She can be a handful," he admitted, "But she's my handful," he continued.

"She didn't have to be," Azula reminded but he only shrugged.

"Yes and no," he said, "I don't know what other people would've done, but I do know that when you're five years old you haven't learned yet that a lot of people will leave you. She had just lost her mother and I couldn't leave her like that, besides I needed her probably as much as she needed me." He admitted and Azula smiled a small smile, but it was quickly replaced by a frown of envy; she would never have been able to do that. "Don't give me that look," Guang laughed as if reading her mind, "I didn't know what she was going to see me as, but apparently I ended up being her brother." He said and now Azula's smirk returned.

"If you want to talk about annoying little sisters you should talk to my brother," she joked and Guang laughed

"I don't doubt it," He teased, "I'm going to crash on the couch, thanks again for watching Rin." He said as he made his way over to the couch and Azula smirked.

"Never again," she said firmly before returning to her own room, where she was immediately reminded that she probably wasn't going to be sleeping at all tonight. But she sighed and crawled back into bed anyway, Guang what he likes but being an older sibling is something that she was so far from being cut out for.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry this chapter is so late. I was away for a few days so i couldn't write and then when i got back i started the chapter but ended up rewriting it. So sorry, but hopefully the next chapter will be up much sooner and thanks so much for all the kind reviews that have been left!**


	20. Chapter 20

The next few weeks passed business as usual. Things were about as normal around the teashop as they ever got. Jia and Yingtai were excluding as ever with their gossip but Azula had learned to ignore that, besides they had become much easier to tolerate now that she'd managed to make a few friends. So all in all everything was going pretty good, or at least it was until some of the shop's usual customers came in talking about the possibility of another war starting.

Normally Azula never paid attention to anything the customers had to say that was none of her business, nothing ever interested her. This shouldn't have been an exception either, considering that the upper ring is full of government employees who still hate The Fire Nation and are convinced that the peace will not last. But recently the talk of another war brewing was becoming more and more frequent, even being mentioned by some of the universities non-political students who frequented the shop. Soon Azula found that she was paying half attention to these 'rumors' and eventually began to believe what she heard about Zuko withdrawing his support from The Harmony Restoration Movement, a plan to remove the Fire Nation colonies and bring the Fire Nation citizens back to the homeland. Now Azula herself really had no opinion on this matter; she'd only been to a few of the colonies once or twice throughout her life and frankly she'd never spent enough time there to care either way what happened to them. That being said, she wasn't quite sure what her brother was thinking keeping the Fire Nation in the Earth Kingdom. But whatever he was thinking she liked to believe that the rumors of another war brewing were in fact just rumors, which became very hard to do the day that the Earth King's army went marching through Ba Sing Se and left in the direction of the colonies.

"This can't be good," Azula muttered to herself, but of course her uncle heard her.

"I agree; we can only hope that this ends peacefully." He commented,

"Uncle, the entire Earth Kingdom military just went marching through the city. I think the chances at peace here are pretty much obliterated." She argued but it did not generate much of a reaction from her uncle.

"Let's hope not," he finally said.

He left the kitchen, but Azula stayed there a moment longer, looking out the window. This isn't right. Maybe it's her brother, maybe it's the Earth King, maybe it's even the Avatar who based both off gossip and just her own gut feeling she knows is involved. Maybe it's even a combination of all three of them, but the world is still fragile and if they aren't careful they'll plunge it straight back into an all out war.

"Hey, you coming back out?" Guang's voice cut through her thoughts like a knife.

"Yeah," she replied, giving no indication that she was worried and if Guang hadn't been watching her stare blankly out the window for a solid two minutes he would've bought it. She walked towards him, every intention set on pushing past him and continuing on with her day like she wasn't internally fretting over whatever was happening in the colony of Yu Dao, like she wasn't wishing she was there to help.

"I can cover for you," he offered when she finally reached him; she just looked quizzically at him. "You know if you need to go help your brother," he further explained and she frowned.

"I left that life behind," she grumbled almost regretfully, and Guang heard it too.

"I know, just saying." He said, he still believed that Yu Dao was where she wanted to be but he wouldn't force her; it's her choice.

Azula walked past Guang and back out into the dining room, today was a slow day so all she did was take an order and bring it out before she again found herself with nothing to do but become lost in her thoughts. All she could focus on was this nagging feeling in her gut, this feeling that whatever was going on in the colony of Yu Dao, it was something that could be easily screwed up. Of course she isn't Zuko's babysitter, and she did leave her old life behind, so really she has no business going there. But at the same time, it was the palace that she left behind. The people, the friends; that hurt. That had hurt so badly that she almost had wanted to stay. So if she were to go back now, most likely there'd be no leaving this time.

"Just stay put," she told herself, "whatever you do, stay put." She sternly continued, "Stay- what are you doing?" She mumbled in defeat as she found herself walking across the shop until she reached Guang.

"How would I even get there?" She asked as a way of admitting to him that she in fact did need him to cover for her, and the smirk he gave her displayed all the satisfaction he got from it.

"Take Peck," he answered simply, as though it was obvious. Peck is the name of Uncle Iroh's ostrich horse, and Azula nearly kicked herself for not having thought of that on her own.

"Uncle will never-"

"Believe me, your uncle will understand." The very smug boy deadpanned and Azula knew that he was right; that they both knew Uncle Iroh was just waiting for her to go running to the fight.

* * *

She traveled through the night; grateful Peck didn't need to stop very often. As she traveled she couldn't help but wonder; how in spirits name did she end up racing towards a potential war zone and somewhat happy about it? She wasn't happy about the whole potential war zone part, obviously, but she was feeling more and more excited over the idea of going back to the people she had left behind. Now the irony of this was not lost on her, considering the only reason she ever ended up with them to begin with was that they had kidnapped her. But the fact still remains that when she was with them, despite the fact that she left, she was at her happiest. The teashop has been great, she's made a few friends and repaired her relationship with her uncle, but at the end of the day it's still the memories of being on Ember Island with Zuko and his friends that she wishes she could return to. Sure she hated staying in her old room, and being poisoned, and being shot, but the little moments she misses more than anything. She misses watching that play, horrible as it was overall, she misses going into town with Sokka, and making jokes about everyone else with Toph. Another thing she misses, but also dreads being thrown back into, is Suki's insane level of kindness. She didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve for the Kyoshi Warrior whom she imprisoned and humiliated to stick up for her when no one else, not even her own brother, would. She deserved for Suki to make that poison strong enough to kill her, or even more so keep her right on the edge of life. She deserved to be on the receiving end of so much pain from that girl; and maybe once this whole thing is over she'll finally get what she deserves. She doubts it though; if Suki wanted to hurt her she easily could've done so a long time ago. But she didn't; and that was somehow even more torturous. These were the thoughts that plagued her mind the entire trip, right up until the next afternoon when she finally arrived outside of Yu Dao and saw not only tanks off in the distance, but also a single war balloon seemingly discarded among some rocks.

 _"Last chance,"_ She thought to herself but she didn't turn back, instead she dismounted Peck and tied him to a low hanging branch of a tree before cautiously approaching the balloon.

As she got closer she noticed three figures hunched in a small circle and peering over the rocks, three very familiar figures.

"That's why I went to get you guys! We have to stop Zuko's army before they reach the city gates!" An urgent voice that Azula immediately knew belonged to Suki exclaimed to Sokka and Toph, none of them had noticed her yet.

"No way-" Toph started, ok so one of them had noticed her.

"I think you forgot someone," Azula said, making her presence known to the other two as all three turned to look at her.

"Azula!" Sokka exclaimed happily while Suki and Toph also smiled.

"Good to see you guys, but explain to me why it is that you are suddenly in more trouble than you were when I was the enemy?" She asked as she joined their little huddle.

"Long story short, difference of opinion between Zuko and Aang." Suki informed their friend who frowned in response, she was afraid of that.

"Then what's the plan?" She asked and when she did all three girls simultaneously looked to Sokka.

"What?" He asked, "I ALWAYS have to be the one with a plan?" He asked incredulously.

"Well do you have one?" Azula demanded,

"As a matter of fact, I do." The Water Tribe boy answered, "First we need to find a way to get into the tanks undetected," he began.

"On it," Toph cut in before she began bending a large hole in the ground, with an oddly curved inside.

One by one they all filed into the hole and found themselves sliding around a bunch of twists and turns in the dark underground.

"You've really been into slides lately," Sokka commented when they finally came to a stop.

"I enjoy hearing your girlish scream," Toph replied

"That was Suki," Sokka tried to defend

"Hey!" Suki shouted and Azula snickered.

"Don't even try pinning it on me," she warned and despite her inability to see Sokka in the dark she knew he was frowning.

"Believe me, I know better." He assured her, she wouldn't admit it but a small part of Azula was actually hurt by that notion.

"Would all three of you please shut up!" Toph suddenly growled and if her words didn't get them to be quiet the rumbling of the ground above them sure did. The sudden movement had Sokka yelping in fear again as well as clinging to the first thing he could grab hold of for protection, only when the sunlight began shining through the newly formed hole above them did he realize that he had grabbed onto a very unamused Azula.

"You're pathetic," she said as he jumped off her. He was about to argue this point when the sound of a tank being forced open by Toph's metalbending prevented him from doing so and instead he and Azula both dropped the issue and hurried to follow their friends into the tank.

"So, what's part two of your plan?" Toph asked once they were all aboard and the two drivers of the tank hand been taken care of, (knocked out and left harmlessly behind a few boulders.)

"Honestly I didn't think we'd get this far," Sokka admitted and one could practically see the steam coming out of Toph's ears.

"Are you kidding me!?" She bellowed in anger.

"Oh I see, blame the idea guy!" Sokka countered and Azula glared daggers at him.

"We're just blaming the guy who decided to break into a war tank without a plan!" She snapped,

"Hey I didn't see you coming up with a plan!" He snapped back at her

"Maybe that's because I barely even know what's going on here!" She shot back at him.

"Uh guys…" Toph said but she went ignored by her bickering friends.

"Your brother is turning into your dad, that's what going on!" Sokka shouted but the moment the words left his mouth he regretted them, because the moment they left his mouth is when Azula slapped him.

For a moment everything inside the tank froze. For a moment all that anyone registered was Sokka's shocked face as he rubbed a hand over his stinging cheek and Azula's furious expression. Zuko may be losing his grip on what's right and what's wrong, even Azula will admit that, but he still saved her. He still believed in her, he still gave her a chance to change and for that she will be forever grateful. For that she will refuse to believe he could ever truly become a monster.

"Hey where'd Suki go?" Sokka finally asked, and that was it. Like the slap never happened. He was sorry, she wasn't, and neither of them could say either out loud.

"She ran off while you two were fighting, saying she's going to try talking to Zuko." Toph answered and again Azula eyed Sokka with a deadly gaze.

"Good," she spit out, although they were probably past the point of talking. "Zuko might be screwed up, but he's not our father." She continued and Sokka's face brightened.

"Screws! That's it!" He exclaimed,

"Uh what?" Toph asked, completely confused by her friend's sudden exuberance.

"Toph, how close would you have to be to metalbend something small? Like a screw or a bolt?" He asked and Toph smiled wickedly as she caught on.

"If you're close enough to see it, I'm close enough to bend it." She answered proudly and Sokka turned to Azula.

"Azula, take the wheel and pull up alongside as many tanks as you can." He ordered and with a nod she did as she was told, but as she did he came and stood behind. "I'm sorry," he practically whispered in a most likely futile attempt to prevent Toph from hearing, Azula only looked down at her feet; she didn't want to believe that he could be right about Zuko.

"We'll talk about it later," she finally said before plowing ahead, Sokka nodded before turning his own focus back to the mission at hand.

Azula drove through the mess of tanks slowly, stealthily, so that they wouldn't be noticed as being suspicious. All the while Sokka was directing Toph on where to focus her bending, but his orders were lost on the driver. His words from before were still eating away at her, because leading the army as a way of enforcing his decision is EXACTLY what Ozai would do. So Azula could only hope that whatever Zuko was doing, he would stop. She was snapped from her thoughts, however, when a powerful gust of air rattled the tank. She frowned in annoyance, because such a blast could've only come from one source.

"Disguise us as what the Avatar is attacking, great move Sokka!" She snapped as Sokka opened the hatch and Toph climbed out.

"Hey we're not hurt," he snapped back at her before following Toph out.

Azula grumbled but stayed put while the two of them spoke with the people outside, and she smirked upon overhearing that Sokka had apparently been left behind somewhere and that's how he wound up with Toph and Suki. Then she heard the ear piercing, metallic clanging, as all the Fire Navy tanks except for their own fell apart outside. But she took the cries of battle as her cue to poke her head outside, just time to see the two armies charging at each other.

"What now, idea guy?" She sneered at Sokka.

"I'm not-"

"ENOUGH!" Aang bellowed the word as he jumped right in between the two armies, glaring dangerous eyes right at Zuko. "The Harmony Restoration movement was such a simple plan! Why couldn't you just follow it through?" He demanded; bordering on the edge of the Avatar State before Katara quite literally pulled him out and away from the ensuing battle.

"Come on!" Toph ordered and with that Azula abandoned the tank and joined her blind friend and Sokka as they joined Katara on top of the city gates.

"Well that went well," Azula sarcastically observed as Suki joined their group.

"Zuko's not listening," she announced.

"Really? We hadn't noticed," Toph commented

"Guys we need to focus before a three way war breaks out!" Sokka shouted, mostly Toph and Azula who were making sarcastic comments.

"Oh so you have a plan now?" Azula mocked and Sokka growled at her, but Katara spoke up before he ever could've said anything.

"We need to hold this off as much as we can until Aang gets back. Toph and Azula, you take out as many Fire Nation troop as you can. Suki and I will do the same with the Earth Kingdom. Sokka, get the protesters out of harms way before they get hurt." She ordered and everyone nodded, except for Sokka.

"Um, how do we get down there?" He asked instead and with a smirk Toph bent a slide out of the Earth.

"There you go," she said smugly.

"Oh come-" He started to whine but Azula cut him off, through the method of shoving in down the slide.

"Move!" She shouted before gracefully, or more gracefully then him anyway, following him down.

Once on the ground everyone quickly split up to complete their own assignments but it quickly became evident that it was to be a very overwhelming battle. Toph and Azula were fighting back to back, and if she's being honest, Azula was more than a little nervous. Her bending has been weak ever since the war ended. As much as she hates to admit it she's still far to angry to maintain her skills while fueling them the traditional way. But luckily her mind is at ease enough to still be able to dissipate the fire from an oncoming attack, which was very helpful until the attacks stopped coming because the soldiers helmets were spinning as if they had minds of their own.

"What the…?" Azula trailed off and things only got stranger when three kids, two about her own age and one clearly much younger, showed up and what's weirder is Toph seemed to know them. "Seriously, what have I missed?" She finally asked when one of the kids began reciting some sort of dark poem that sounded like he was making it up as he went.

"I'll fill you in later," Toph promised dryly before telling the newcomers to look alive.

Whoever these newcomers were, and Toph called them Lilly livers but Azula doubted they called themselves that, they were metalbenders and they were helping. But even with their assistance the battle was starting to look bleaker and bleaker. Even when Katara used waterbending to get herself up to the Earth King's blimp things only seemed to be getting worse.

"General How! Withdraw your troops immediately!" Zuko's loud voice demanded and when she heard that Azula's eyes flashed angrily.

"Oh that is it!" She grumbled before turning to Toph, "Can you and your friends handle this?" She asked.

"Do what you gotta do princess," The blind girl responded and so without another word Azula forced her way through the battle until she was face to face with her brother.

"Azula?!" He exclaimed, clearly surprised to see her.

"What are you doing Zuko?" She demanded, "I came halfway across the Earth Kingdom so that I could see for myself that everything I've been hearing is a lie!" She exclaimed, "And guess what, it's not!"

"Azula you don't know what you're talking about! You don't understand-" boy was that a poor choice of words.

"I don't understand?!" Azula demanded incredulously, "I understand that a year ago you were trying to end a war, not start one! I understand that the words 'Harmony' and 'Military' don't belong in the same sentence! I understand-" But she was cut off by a large beacon of light off in the distance, and it wasn't long before Aang, the source of that light, was hovering above them in a whirlwind air scooter made very powerful by the Avatar State.

"Aang! I know how this looks! But I swear to you, in my heart-" Zuko cut himself off with a sigh and took off his helmet. "None of that matters, does it?" He asked himself softly, "I'm doing exactly what my father would've done." He admitted and Azula felt her heart crack in her chest, just like Zuko she hadn't wanted to believe that.

But Aang didn't respond with words, instead he used Earth Bending to rip open a large crack in the ground. Stumbling on the unstable edges of this crack Azula just barely managed to jump out of the way of plummeting to her doom, but Zuko wasn't so lucky.

"NO!" Azula let out a blood-curdling scream, the other cries over what had just transpired completely lost on her. Instantly she dove forward to try and save him, but she was stopped. She was stopped by a cry of her name and two strong arms gripping her firmly around the waist as their owner pulled her back.

"Azula! Azula!" It was Sokka's voice in her ear, Sokka holding her back.

"Let me go!" She demanded as tears started forming on the edges of her eyes. Ordinarily she never would've allowed herself to cry, but considering her brother was just swallowed by the earth she's pretty sure it's allowed.

The more she struggled the tighter Sokka held but she didn't care about that, she only stopped when she saw Aang diving into the crack he had created and flying back out with Zuko in tow.

* * *

 **Author's Note: For anyone who read the comics, this takes place during Part 3 of The Promise**


	21. Chapter 21

For a moment, while they watched Aang rescue Zuko, both Sokka and Azula simply froze. It would be a safe bet to say that they were both surprised by what had just happened and as it all caught up with them they needed a moment to process it. Sokka was the first of the two to snap out of the daze, realizing for the first time that his arms were wrapped around Azula's waist and that he was still holding her high as he could off the ground. When he finally realized this he placed her gently back onto her feet, which seemed to be about when she finished processing everything.

"Uh…" he trailed off awkwardly. But before she could've said anything Aang's voice cut through the tension.

"Zuko!" He exclaimed and the two noticed that Zuko had collapsed onto the ground in a heap of unconsciousness.

Understandably they both hurried over to him along with the rest of their little group. Suki was the first to get there, and as such she was the one kneeling down and turning Zuko onto his back.

"What happened?" Katara questioned in concern and the glare Azula gave her was a mix of annoyance and distain.

"He just went plummeting into the center of the earth, what do you think happened?" She snapped but Katara said nothing, knowing that now was not the time.

"What do we do?" Suki asked, by this point she had pulled Zuko's head into her lap as if elevating his head would really get him to wake up.

"We get him out of here, there's someone in Ba Sing Se I think he needs to talk to." Azula said, a commanding finality in her voice that said she was not to be argued with. They all knew who she was talking about, and they all knew that she was right.

Sokka bent down and hooked his arm under Zuko, quickly loading their unconscious friend over his shoulder. Aang helped him get their friend onto Appa but as the others loaded on, Azula began walking in the opposite direction.

"You're not coming with us?" Sokka called after her

"I came here on an ostrich hoarse, I'll meet you guys there." She replied and Sokka nodded.

"Be careful," he advised her and she rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry," she snapped, for the life of her she couldn't understand why he was concerned. He doesn't know her bending has become next to useless and the war's over anyway, not to mention she just helped him take down the entire Fire Nation army. He has nothing to worry about.

* * *

She was right, he had nothing to worry about. But that doesn't mean that Azula wasn't thinking about Sokka's words throughout her entire trip back. She just couldn't understand why he had asked her to be careful. She'd have to ask him once she made it back to the shop. Of course she had a theory, but it was far to absurd to be true. After everything she's done in the past she lucky she made a friend in Sokka, she could never let herself believe that he actually-

"Why am I even thinking about this?" She suddenly asked out loud, effectively cutting off her own thoughts. Why was she thinking about this? It's not only impossible but she should utterly repulsive; should being the key word. "I think he might have been onto something when he said I was delusional," She grumbled, deciding that she definitely made the right move going to live with her uncle and escaping from always being in her own head; especially if this is her head these days.

* * *

By the time she made it back to the Jasmine Dragon and put Peck away in the barn out back it was late at night. But strangely not everyone was inside, no, Aang was meditating on the roof.

"Whatever works," she muttered to herself, not knowing what else to say to the sight. When she got inside the restaurant she found that her uncle was cleaning up behind the counter while Katara and Sokka were sitting at a separate table. Zuko was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Zuko?" She asked as she took a vacant seat at the table.

"In the back on a cot, Suki's watching over him." Katara said and Azula gave a nod, accepting the answer.

"Where's Toph?" She asked, noticing the peculiar absence of the blind earthbender.

"She had to go back to her school," Sokka answered and when Azula looked at him in confusion he began explaining everything that had happened over the past year.

She wasn't too surprised to hear that Katara and Aang had become a couple since her departure, although she never would've imagined Toph running a school. The news that Zuko and Mai had broken up yet again was something else that she could not believe, how dumb does her brother have to be to let Mai get away twice? Not long after Sokka finished his tale Aang entered the shop, he looked worse for wear but he said nothing to his friends and only made his way to the back in order to speak to Iroh.

"I need go to talk to him," Katara said with a sigh, thus leaving Sokka and Azula alone in the dining room.

For a moment the two of them were quiet, each of them finding a different spot on the table's surface extremely fascinating. Sure Azula had wanted to ask why he warned her to be careful on her way home, but she knew the answer she would receive. He would tell her he was just being friendly, and regardless of if she believed him or not she wouldn't ask.

"So uh… this is where you've been?" He finally asked her, breaking the ever-lasting silence.

"For awhile," she admitted with a shrug, "I've walked around a lot of different places but yeah, I've been here for most of the past year. About eight months to be exact," she said and Sokka nodded.

"Didn't like traveling?" He asked but Azula shook her head.

"Actually I loved traveling," she contradicted, "But being alone on the other hand…not my thing." She confessed which she could tell surprised Sokka at least a little bit. "I'd rather be in one place with other people then traveling with only myself to talk to." She admitted and she couldn't quite tell if she liked or hated the fact that she could practically see gears turning in Sokka's head.

"What if you could do both?" He finally asked her; liked, she definitely liked the gears.

"I can't," she all but snapped.

"You could," he argued, "We're still traveling around all the time with this Harmony Restoration Movement, and without Toph and Suki Aang and Katara are overwhelming me with their oogies! If you come with us then you get to travel, I get someone to suffer through the oogies with me, and Aang gets an extra set of hands helping with the Harmony Restoration Movement! Everybody wins!" He exclaimed, growing more and more excited about the idea by the second.

"I wouldn't call me suffering with you a win," Azula mocked, "But I'll think about it," she agreed and apparently that was all Sokka was asking for because he agreed to it without protest.

* * *

Four days past after that. Four days of Azula looking at Zuko's unconscious form every time she went back into the break room at work. That was four days where she spent her breaks watching over him. Of course Uncle wasn't putting her on as many hours, she confronted him and told him that she wanted to work but he politely refused to up her hours. It didn't matter much anyway; she'd be in the shop either way. When she was working she was serving tea and when she wasn't working she was keeping an eye on Zuko.

"You know he's not going to wake up just because you're staring at him," Guang's firm voice snapped through her thoughts as she sat in the back room of the restaurant, three hours after her shift had ended.

"The second time I was shot, the time I came close to dying, he sat outside my room all night." She confessed and Guang sighed but didn't budge from his spot in the doorway.

"That was one night, you've barely slept in three." He argued but she didn't give more than a shrug. "Look I know you just want to be with him," He said sympathetically as he went over and took a seat beside his new friend. "When my mom was sick I didn't want to leave her side. But Rin had just lost her own mom and she needed me to take care of her, I know you're worried but your brother is going to be fine and in the meantime the world is still turning and you've got to turn with it." He said to her softly but she wouldn't move her eyes off of Zuko. She said nothing, because she knew he was right and in all honesty really is going to be ok. But she just can't help it; she wants to stay here and make sure of it.

"Hey," Sokka's voice came from the doorway, "Sorry I just thought I'd check and see if he was awake, I didn't realize you two were back here." He explained; he didn't know much about Guang other than the fact that he was a good guy who always had his little sister with him if he was here after hours. His sister was cute, your typical bright-eyed little girl with a mouth that runs about a mile a minute. He wasn't too keen on what Guang's relationship was with Azula though. They almost seemed like they could be more than friends but at the same time that didn't seem right, and for whatever reason such a sign came as a sensation of relief to Sokka.

"She's back here," Guang specified, "I'm trying to get her to go home and get some sleep." He continued in frustration.

"I'm fine," Azula spat and while Guang looked as though he was growing closer to losing his patients, Sokka's patients were yet to be tested today and so he approached and got down in front of Azula. "I'm fine," she insisted again before he could even get a word out, venom lacing her words in a warning.

"I know but he's right, you've been here every time I stop by and considering I leave late and you're still here I'll believe that you don't sleep much." He said; he, Katara, and Aang had been staying in an inn down the street for the past few days and they all stopped into the shop periodically, mostly after hours. That being said it was almost always late when they left and Azula was always still there. "Just go take a nap and it'll shut us both up," he bargained but she didn't look like she was going to agree so he gave a sigh. "Alright fine," he said and before anyone could say anything he had scooped Azula up and slung her over his shoulder.

"Hey!" Azula yelped; Guang of course was now dying of laughter.

"Burn my head off if you want but-ah!" Sokka cut himself off with a yelp when he felt her actually burning the ends of his hair. She only singed it of course; she didn't do any real damage. Not that she couldn't have if she wanted to; her bending may be weak but it's still strong enough to set Sokka on fire.

But despite the embers falling from the back of his head Sokka marched outside of the shop with Azula and furthermore he went all the way down the street before he put her down.

"Thank you," Azula bitterly said when her feet finally hit the ground.

"I'll come get you if he wakes up, but your friend is right, go get some sleep." He ordered and Azula growled.

"You better come get me," she gave in and Sokka nodded.

"I will," he promised and so with that Azula, warily, disappeared the rest of the way down the street on her way to the apartment.

* * *

When Sokka arrived back at the Jasmine Dragon he did just as he told Azula he would and took over her position in the back. The silence of the back room was enough to drive his hyper active mind to other thoughts. He thought about everything that had just transpired in the last few days, he thought about what might end up happening in the next few days in order to fix this mess, and he thought about what the heck happened to his life. He isn't complaining, honestly he's not. He was born into a war torn world and he growing up he was completely ok with that. He was never really sure if he would see the end of the war over his lifetime, but he never could've imagined that he'd be among those who brought that end. He never could've imagined that Katara and him would be flying around the world with the Avatar in order to spread peace. He never could've imagined that he would be friends with the new Firelord and his sister, never could've imagined that he would've been as happy as he was to see Azula again.

"Thanks," a voice snapped Sokka out of his thoughts and when he turned he saw Azula's friend standing in the doorway.

"No problem," Sokka said, "Thanks for looking out for her, you really do care about her don't you?" He asked but Guang shook his head as he came and sat down next to him.

"Not in the way you're thinking," he replied, "Don't get me wrong she's a great girl, but if I wasn't sleeping at a friend's place every night I'd be sleeping here. We spend a lot of time together but to me she's more like a cousin or another sister or something." He confessed and much as Sokka would like to deny it this made him very happy. He wouldn't admit why though, that for now was going to stay in the deep recesses of his mind and even to himself he would deny it.

"She doesn't talk much," Guang finally said, "I mean she talks but not about…" He trailed off but Sokka understood.

"Not about who she was," he finished for Guang who nodded.

"We all know, and she knows it too. But just before you came in she said that she was shot? Twice? The second time she almost died?" He questioned, he had tried not to react when Azula originally mentioned this but now that she was gone he just had to know.

"Her dad hired an assassin," Sokka began, "One of the Yuyan archers. He attacked her one night and shot an arrow through her ankle and her shoulder, the last one was going for her heart but Aang redirected it. He came back a few nights later and shot her right through the back, Katara managed to heal her." He explained and Guang just looked like if Sokka's face weren't so serious he wouldn't have believed him.

"Man…" He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I figured she had been through a lot but I never thought her own dad tried to kill her." He said and Sokka just looked glumly at Zuko's still unconscious form.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the apartment, Azula had managed to get some sleep. However it wasn't turning out to be as good of an idea as the boys had thought it would. The moment Azula closed her eyes her mind was plagued with a merciless onslaught of horrible visions that came together to create a nightmare. In it she stood alone in the teashop, and she was surrounded by fire. Her bending had become totally useless, and so she couldn't dissipate the flames. All she could do was hit her knees while she choked on the smoke and ash filling her lungs. Finally, the front doors opened, and standing there was a very angry looking Zuko.

"Zuko," she coughed, "Please, why are you doing this?" She coughed again but her brother said nothing, he just scowled at her. "Zuko please, this is exactly what Ozai would want you to do!" She shouted this at him despite the fact that she couldn't breathe.

But Zuko still said nothing; he just turned and left.


	22. Chapter 22

"Ah!"

"Ah!"

Azula awoke with a scream and another, one that didn't come from her, quickly matched it. Looking over she noticed Sokka standing in the center of the room with his arms raised as if to protect his face and she realized that he must have been trying to wake her.

"What are you doing here?" She growled despite already knowing the answer,

"You told me to come get you when Zuko woke up," The Water Tribe boy answered as he tried to calm his racing heart.

* * *

Azula rushed back to the teashop with Sokka to find that she had been asleep for longer than she originally planned, as it was dark outside and past closing time. Once she got there she found the dining room was empty save for Zuko and Aang sitting at a table and Uncle milling around between the large room and the kitchen.

"Azula," Zuko said in slight awe when his eyes caught sight of his sister standing in the doorway of the shop.

"Judging by the look on your face, I'd say no one told you I was here." She said as she took the vacant seat beside her brother and Aang stood and went into the back, quickly followed by Sokka.

"No," Zuko said with a shake of his head. It wasn't even a minute later that Azula had wacked him lightly but still harshly on the back of the head. "Ow!" He yelped in surprise.

"That's for nearly falling to your death," she scolded and Zuko simply grimaced at her whilst rubbing his now throbbing head.

"I didn't mean to," he growled but that didn't do anything to ease the angry look on his sister's face. For a moment the two of them were silent, it was the first time in a year that they had seen each other. Azula didn't need much time to look her brother over; she'd been doing just that for the past four days. But she let him study her appearance. She hadn't changed much in the past year, her hair got a little longer and she may have grown an inch but overall she thought she looked about the same. "So this is where you've been?" He asked, very much like Sokka.

"Yup, while you've been out starting another war I've been helping Uncle with his shop." She replied and Zuko grimaced in annoyance.

"Aang says that we're meeting with the Earth King in a few days to figure out what happens with Yu Dao, but it can't stay like this." He said and Azula nodded.

"Agreed, but neither can you." She said, "Zuko, I don't care if you were right or wrong about this. You handled it the way Ozai would've and you can't-"

"I know," he cut her off. "I thought things would be easier with him locked away but they're not, I still feel like he's just waiting for me to screw up." He confessed.

"That's because he is," Azula muttered and Zuko couldn't help but look surprised. He hadn't really known what he expected Azula to say to this. Tell him he was wrong? Maybe. But agree with him? No he hadn't expected that. "Do you really think some iron rods and a sudden loss of bending is going to stop him?" She questioned, "He plays his games Zuko; he's sitting their waiting for you to fail and for me to come crawling back to his side. The only way for us to win is to never let that happen," She continued,

"Then stop acting like that," Zuko said and Azula just looked completely confused. "Dad is still a part of both of us and while I agree that we need to try and shake his influence, you need to realize what that entails." He continued but Azula was still confused, if not a little offended.

"Meaning?" She drawled,

"You're treating this like it's a competition." Zuko clarified, "You're saying that we have to beat him but don't you get it? There is no beating! This isn't about anyone winning or losing, it's about starting over." He explained and Azula took a minute to think about this before sighing in agreement, she knew Zuko was right.

"We can't start over," she finally said in a whisper of an angry voice.

"Of course we can, the whole world is starting over-"

"Well we can't!" Azula all but shouted as she cut Zuko off. "I've tried starting over before," she began, "Back on Ember Island when you stopped poisoning me, after the war when I was wandering around by myself, even here where I have friends and a job and a life. It all feels like running away because you can't move on if you still live in the past." She spat through gritted teeth.

"Well what part of you is living in the past?" Zuko asked,

"The same part as you," she all but spat, "the part that can't let go of mother."

At first Zuko was understandably surprised to hear this. Azula never really talked about their mom unless she was complaining, but maybe that was the problem. She wants to what happened as much as he does. She wants to know, once and for all, why Ursa left and why on earth she didn't take the two of them with her.

"I've tried to find her," he admitted, "But dad won't tell me anything."

"You didn't spend your life at his side," Azula argued, "Let me talk to him," she asked

"No," Zuko immediately answered, "You don't need to be around him,"

"I need to find our mother," Azula argued, "All my life I thought she hated me, but I've seen Guang raise his little sister and if he can love someone who isn't even his-"

"Azula, mom loved you." Zuko cut in, not wanting to hear her talk about their mother hating her yet again.

"I need to hear that from her," She said and so Zuko sighed.

"He might not talk to you," He warned,

"He taught me his game, I'm the best chance we've got." She assured confidently, of course on the inside she felt as if she were about to be sick at the idea of going to see Ozai. But she had to do this, because he knows what happened to her mother.

* * *

While Zuko and Azula talked, or more argued by the looks of things, Sokka hid in the back with Iroh after Aang and Katara had left to go for a walk. The kitchen was clean for the most part, so he was pretty much just sitting there, when Suki came in the back door.

"Is he?" She began to ask upon seeing the cot that had become a seemingly permanent fixture in the backroom empty.

"He's up," Sokka confirmed, "Azula's talking to him right now," he continued to inform his girlfriend who nodded.

"Um, can you come outside with me for a minute?" She asked and although Sokka was confused at first he obediently got up and followed her out to the back of the building.

"What's going on?" He asked and Suki sighed, avoiding all eye contact.

"I've been thinking," now Sokka knew exactly where this was going. "We've hardly seen each other since the war ended and you have to keep helping Aang and Katara-"

"I don't HAVE to," Sokka interrupted, mentally kicking himself because despite the part of him that felt like he should fight, he really didn't want to. He knew what Suki was trying to suggest and if he's being honest he's been having the same ideas.

"I know but you are, and I'm in the Fire Nation helping Zuko for I don't know how much longer but I think it'll be awhile. Besides, even back on Ember Island I feel like things between us were… fading." She finally got out and Sokka sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I know." He agreed, "So are we still, you know, friends?" He awkwardly asked; losing Suki as his girlfriend he can handle but as his friend, he doesn't want to lose her in that regard.

"Of course," she replied, looking as though the thought of their friendship coming to an end had never even crossed her mind. "Sokka you're always going to be one of my best friends," She assured him and he smiled.

"Good," He said before he gave her a hug.

* * *

"You don't have to do this," Zuko assured his sister a few days later when they were standing outside of the door to their father's prison cell. He had to get to his meeting with Aang, the Earth King, and many Yu Dao city officials so the plan was for Azula to meet with Ozai while he was there. Azula had insisted that they close the window into the cell, Ty Lee and Suki would still be standing guard outside in the hall, but that was it.

"Yes I do," Azula said and she does, yes for the purposes of finding their mother but even more than that she needs to face her father.

Finally Zuko unlocked the door and let her in, knowing there was no talking her out of it.

"I'll be back soon," he said before closing the door.

At first Azula just took in the sight of the man before her, the pathetic man sitting on the floor of a cell rotting away. He was covered in dirt and his long hair hung down in his face, the scowl on his face appeared to be a permanent fixture.

"I'd heard rumors that you were alive, almost didn't believe them when they claimed you were working with Zuko." He finally said. She didn't say anything, just stared at him silently and angrily. Her anger was boiling over, the way he is now he shouldn't have anything left, but he does. She can see it in his eyes; he still has his pride because he still doesn't regret a single thing that he's ever done. "So why are you here?" He finally drawled out.

"I want to know what happened to my mother," She coldly demanded and Ozai smirked.

"Now I know you've been working with Zuko," he mused, "Why?" He questioned but Azula only narrowed her eyes.

"None of your business," she spat but his smirk only grew.

"If I'm going to tell you what became of Ursa then you're going to tell me what you plan to do with the information." He bargained and for now at least Azula decided to play his game.

"I plan to find her," she answered, folding her arms over her chest.

"And then what?" Her father demanded, "You think that things are going to be different?" He questioned her, "Do you really think that your mother suddenly loves you?"

"I've changed," Azula sneered,

"Enough?" Ozai questioned, "I'm going to let you in on a little secret Azula, your mother never loved me." He sneered, "She hated me from the moment we met and while Zuko took after her, you took after me. I'm in your blood Azula, no matter where you run or how long you stay away I'm still part of you. When your mother looks at you, all she'll see is the wicked spawn of the man who ruined her life." He told her and Azula clenched her jaw tightly, digging her nails deep into the palms of her hands until she nearly drew blood as she attempted to keep the anger inside of her at bay.

"You're wrong," she finally spat out, "Or are you forgetting how much mom always loved Zuko? The other offspring of the man who ruined the world." She thought she finally had him, but his smirk claimed otherwise.

"In one of the meditation rooms back in the palace there's an emblem of fire on the wall, shoot a blast of fire into it and it'll open. It leads to a secret passage where among some other things is a box of letters that your mother wrote but never sent to her family. They contain all the information you need to find her." He told her and at first she was caught off guard by his sudden cooperation. But she knew that he was telling the truth about the room, she had discovered it during one of her many excursions throughout the palace as a child.

She supposed that most people would say thank you after receiving such information but Azula couldn't bear to give Ozai the satisfaction. She knew that he was playing at something, what she hadn't yet figured out, but it was something and she felt as if by thanking him then she somehow let him win. So she turned to walk away but stopped when Zuko's words rang in her ears.

 _"This isn't about anyone winning or losing, it's about starting over."_

"Thank you," she bit out just as she made it to the door, and then she walked out of the room.

* * *

"So he just told you?" Zuko questioned later that night when they were all back in the Fire Nation Capital, him and Azula walking into an old meditation room in the palace.

"No he told me where to look," she specified, "Not right away either, he tried to manipulate me out of it but eventually he figured out that I wasn't changing my mind. I think he hopes we will find mother and her hatred of me will be enough to get me back on his side." She continued to explain.

"Mom doesn't hate you!" Zuko exclaimed in annoyance,

"I know," Azula said, her voice surprisingly calm. "I never made it easy for her to show that she loved me, I know that now. So dad's plan isn't going to work." She continued, she didn't know it but Zuko was wondering when exactly his little sister had gotten so mature and so understanding. "Now can we stop arguing about this and get in there already?" She all but snapped and Zuko nodded before opening the passage.

Admittedly Azula felt a little guilty for snapping, because she knew it would prompt Zuko to open the passage, so in a way she was manipulating. But it couldn't be helped, she's not ready to tell him that she's still angry and therefor can't focus enough to bend the traditional way. She's hoping that she never has to tell him, that finding their mother will bring enough peace to her mind to fix her bending without Zuko ever knowing that she had a problem.

"What is this place?" Zuko asked in awe as he and Azula descended down a hidden staircase and emerged inside of a large room filled with war relics.

"One of father's secret chambers, you really should've come exploring with me when we were kids." Azula informed him.

They searched the room for these letters, and Zuko grimaced upon noticing the Air Nomad artifacts hanging on the wall like they were trophies. He made a mental note to give those to Aang. There were also Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom prizes mounted in the same way but those weren't nearly as disturbing; those weren't taken on the day a civilization was completely destroyed.

Azula, meanwhile, had gone straight for a rather large trunk on the far end of the room and at first it seemed that she had gotten lucky with her first guess. Buried at the bottom of the trunk were at least a dozen scattered envelopes. She tore one open and immediately recognized her mother's handwriting. It was a letter to her parents, announcing that they had a new granddaughter. If Azula were dumber she would wonder why her mother had never sent these but she's no fool. She knows the traditions of the royal family all too well, and that these letters hadn't so much been unsent as they were intercepted by Ozai. She made a mental note to talk to Zuko about that rule of those who marry into power in the Fire Nation being forbidden to contact their families afterward, though she had to give her mother credit for trying. So with nothing useful in the first letter Azula tore open a second one and scanned it, and her heart nearly stopped. She folded this one up quickly, not wanting to look at it anymore. But she couldn't let Zuko see it, despite her better judgment screaming at her that he needs to see it, she just couldn't do it. So she selfishly tucked it into the waistband of her pants before she ripped open a third letter, and this one detailed a location.

"I found something," she said over her shoulder, ok she had found two things but the first she wasn't about to share.

Zuko hurried over and she handed him the letter in her hand. She waited as his eyes scanned it and then he looked to her.

"You really think she's there?" He asked and she shrugged,

"It's the only lead we've got," she replied and Zuko nodded.

"I'll contact Uncle, see if he can watch over things." He said and Azula nodded.

"Sounds like a plan," She agreed, her smile fake.


	23. Chapter 23

The next few days went by all too quickly and Azula wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand she was very anxious to set off and actually find Ursa, on the other hand it didn't feel like the good anxious. Her father's words kept ringing through her mind, and it was frustrating her to no end because she knew that's exactly what he wants. She kept trying to tell herself that she has no proof her mother even wrote that letter, keeps trying to convince herself that after all this time her memory of her mother's handwriting is faded and she isn't truly remembering it. She tries to convince herself that what's written in that letter is nothing more than a lie written by her father.

But she knows she's wrong. She knows that her mother did indeed write that letter and that means that it's contents are most likely true. She still hasn't told Zuko about it, even though he probably has more of a right to know than she does. She knows that keeping this information from him, this information that could free him from all of his pain, is selfish but she still can't quite bring herself to do it. So basically her week passed in a never-ending haze of guilt and anxiety, which to her credit she must have hidden very well because Zuko never seemed to notice. It was decided that Aang and the others would join them on the trip because… well Azula didn't exactly know why but Zuko said that it's going to be awhile before the next meeting concerning Yu Dao and they could all use the trip. She didn't bother questioning it; actually she was grateful to hear that they would be around as it would be a distraction from the guilt swirling inside her.

* * *

The night before they were set to leave, however, Azula couldn't sleep. She just lay there in her bed, in her old room at the palace. She had decided over the past week that if there is one place that she hates more than her room on Ember Island, it's her room here. All around her are reminders not of times when their family was actually some semblance of happy, but of when they were broken. Broken was the only word she could think of to describe what her 'family' had been over the past few years. With her mother just gone, Zuko banished, and her father just being her father there really isn't any other word to describe it. She knows that Zuko feels it too, that it's part of the reason he wants to find their mother. He wants to start over and repair what he can of their family.

 _"He doesn't have to,"_ The thoughts she so desperately wanted to push away would remind her. _"Finding mother will be the last piece of his puzzle, after that your struggle is all alone."_ The mocking thoughts never seemed to end. _"No!"_ She would think to herself, _"No he's still my brother! He wouldn't let me suffer alone!"_ She tried to combat these bad thoughts; _"He is the one who treated you like a prisoner until you agreed to see things his way."_ Her thoughts felt the need to remind her about Ember Island. _"The only way to win is to make sure he suffers with you."_ Her thoughts mocked and she responded by rolling onto her side and pressing a pillow harshly against her ear. Now she truly hated her mind, because thoughts of doing the unthinkable were running through it. _"I won't,"_ she mentally seethed, _"I don't need to win, this isn't a game!"_ She kept trying to convince herself of that, kept trying to convince herself that Zuko get's his thinking from their mom and she has just as much of mom in her as he does, the problem is she also has Ozai in her.

"I won't," she whispered to herself, "I won't hurt anyone." She continued and with that she finally drifted off to sleep, not even feeling one ounce better.

* * *

When morning came Azula still felt the fear in her. The fear that Zuko would somehow find out about the letter, the fear that he would turn his back on her once he knew the truth, and the fear that in the aftermath she would let her anger take over. But she pushed it down, it was still ringing endlessly in her head as the two halves of her waged war inside her mind, but she hid it. She got dressed and did her hair, making sure that she didn't look as nervous as she felt. She wasn't sure if the morning dragged on or went by much to fast, all she knew was that the moment that flying bison landed outside she felt as though she might be sick.

"Are you ready?" Zuko asked, coming and standing beside her. She took a deep breath before answering, because no, she is not ready.

"As I'll ever be," she lied before slinging her bag over her shoulder and beginning to make her way outside.

* * *

Outside she and Zuko found their friends ready to go and as Aang talked with Zuko Azula went and tossed her bag up onto the saddle.

"So how did you get information out of your dad?" Sokka's voice came asking from the side of her.

"He thinks he's playing me," She replied bitterly. "Toph isn't coming?" She questioned, noticing the absence of their blind friend. "I thought she loved field trips?"

Sokka laughed upon being reminded of Toph's claims about it being her turn for a life changing field trip with Zuko when they had lost Aang before the comet. "She had some business to attend to at her school. After the lily livers, err I mean her students, helped take down the Fire Nation army a lot of people got interested in metalbending. The Yu Dao chief of police even went to see her!" He exclaimed, clearly excited for his friend. Azula nodded, also happy to hear that things are going well for her friend. It was then that she noticed Suki was over at the other end of the courtyard talking to Iroh and yet Sokka was still standing over here.

"You might want to say goodbye to your girlfriend before we go," She suggested and Sokka did look over at Suki but he made no motion to move.

"We broke up, actually." He admitted, "I thought she told you?" He asked but Azula shook her head.

"No, sorry to hear that." She said and she meant it. She knew how happy the two of them had been together.

"Don't worry about it, it was a mutual decision." Sokka said, "But you're right, I probably should go talk to her." He said and with that he set off to do just that, and Azula really hated how much she was suddenly and inexplicably hoping they would remain as just friends after this conversation. Of course she knew they would, and she really didn't want to admit why she cared. Not like she'd ever stand a chance anyway, boys are not her field of expertise.

"Come on, let's get going." Aang's chipper voice suddenly piped up, he sounded to be more excited about this than anyone.

* * *

As they flew through the air it was pretty much business as usual. Aang and Zuko were hunched over a map while Katara was practically glued to Aang's side, now Azula could understand why Sokka needed someone around to suffer with him. The two of them were completely nauseating to watch, of course that could very well just be the anxiety and internal war that had decided to take control of Azula's mind. She was still being haunted by these thoughts of what was going to happen to her if Zuko ever learned the truth, or worse, the lengths she might go to in order to ensure that either never happens or doesn't matter.

"You're quiet," Sokka interrupted her thoughts, thankfully, as he crawled over and claimed a seat next to her.

"I can see why you don't like being alone with them," she mused as she pointed to Katara and Aang.

"Yes, thank you!" Sokka exclaimed, "I keep telling them that they give me the Oogies but nothing changes! If anything they just kiss more!" He continued to vent and of course by now he had the attention of his sister.

"Look I'm sorry that you and Suki broke up-" Katara began but she was abruptly cut off.

"This has nothing to do with Suki!" Her brother exclaimed, "I'm just saying that you two constantly making out got real old, real fast." He huffed and while the two of them began arguing everyone else wisely stayed out of it, that is until Aang suddenly had a scowl on his face so furious that he looked as though he was about to rip Sokka's head off.

"Uh, guys?" Zuko tried but the water siblings were still going at it, completely oblivious to the their surroundings. "Guys," Zuko tried again.

"Hey!" Azula shouted but just like Zuko no one seemed to hear her.

"Guys!" Zuko finally shouted, the only reason Katara and Sokka snapped out of their argument was because their friend had gone and place himself right between them.

"You broke Aang," Azula said and finally the two looked over. Katara gasped while Sokka squealed like a little girl and nearly jumped off the saddle.

"Aang, sweetie, are you ok?" Katara asked with obvious concern.

"I don't know," he replied, murderous scowl still in place. "There's some kind of spirit, I can feel its presence." He explained,

"Now that you mention it, I feel it too. That's why I'm doing this!" Sokka mocked, using his fingers to widen his eyes.

"Sokka this is serious!" Katara scolded, Azula however giggled at this until Zuko shut her up with a glare that could've rivaled Aang's.

"Oh come on," she said in annoyance but didn't say anything more.

"As serious as this?" Sokka mocked, making a stone face upon taking Azula's laughter as encouragement.

"Knock it off!" Katara yelled; the expression she gave him definitely surpassed Zuko's and maybe even Aang's.

"Guys! There's a giant wolf spirit down there!" Aang suddenly exclaimed, his face finally voice of the angry expression it had been wearing moments before.

"Does it look like this?" Sokka asked, now stretching out his cheeks until Katara pelted him with a snowball.

"What was that for?!" He spluttered,

"I told you to knock it off!" She shouted at him.

"Where is this wolf they're talking about?" Azula questioned Zuko as the two of them peered over the side of the saddle.

"I'm not sure," he replied as Appa began descending, "But I think we're about to find out."

They landed in the middle of a large canyon and the second that they did Aang was racing off until he disappeared around the side of a distant boulder.

"Aang, wait up!" Katara called after her boyfriend as the group dismounted the bison and chased after him.

"Does he do this a lot?" Azula questioned as she ran alongside Zuko.

"Why do you think I was never able to capture him?" He half joked and Azula only rolled her eyes but said nothing, mostly because as they skidded to a sudden stop the four found themselves staring up at a massive blue and white wolf that towered over some of the canyon ridges.

"Holy…" Sokka said but his voice died before he could've finished. Not that he could have finished if he wanted to because the one word was enough to cause the wolf to growl at him and make a snap for his head. He yelped and jumped back in fear as Aang lectured on the importance of respecting the spirit world. "Respectful?! Your spirit just tried to eat my head!" Sokka continued to shout, while he panicked Zuko was taking note of the markings on the wolf's fur.

"The markings on the belly kind of look like a face," he mused,

"Yeah, the same face Aang was making." Katara agreed, Aang also took note of this and tried to use it as a way of reasoning with the wolf.

"I felt your presence earlier, see?" He asked as he leapt high into the air and made the angry face again. "Just like the design on your fur! I knew you were near because I'm the Avatar, the great bridge between spirits and humans. My friends and I were passing through when I felt your presence, please, I am sorry if we have disturbed you." He explained,

"Disturbed him?" Azula questioned, "We were over a thousand feet in the air! How could we have disturbed him?" She demanded incredulously.

"Azula!" Zuko snapped; the last thing they needed was his sister ticking off a giant spirit.

But it was too late for that. Just as she finished speaking the wolf took a snap at Aang and quickly moved for Zuko and Katara who now had no choice but to fight back and so Azula hurried to their aid.

"You know she has a good point," Sokka said thoughtfully as he jumped into the battle with his boomerang.

Azula was always one to fight her own battles but with her current state of mind she's been unable to do so much as produce one satisfactory flame. So she tried to simply hide throughout this fight and turns out she didn't need to do so for long because right away Zuko shot a long trail of fire at the spirit and it responded by opening it's mouth and swallowing the trail.

"Did it just eat my fire?" He asked, completely stunned as the spirit let out a burp.

"And burped! It ate your fire and burped at you!" Sokka exclaimed just before the wolf lunged for Aang again, who was still trying to reason with it.

"Come on wolf spirit! I'm great bridge guy!" He all but whined as he dodged the animal's attack.

"Hey, great bridge guy, I don't think he likes you!" Azula shouted over to the Avatar who was having less and less success in dodging the wolf's attacks.

Before Aang could reply a loud "RAAAAR!" rang through the air and Appa came crashing down on the spirit, wrestling him away from his master.

"All Right! Giant Spirit animal mega-brawl!" Sokka cheered while Aang pleaded for his bison to go easy on the wolf. If Appa's idea of going easy was slamming the wolf into the side of the canyon, then yes, he went easy. But he may not have gone easy enough because the spirit got back up and swayed on it's feet before it began to vomit a swarm of moth wasps.

"This is the grossest spirit ever!" Sokka cringed as they all tried to get away from the insects but the swarm just kept attacking.

"Everyone, get on Appa!" Aang ordered and there wasn't a single person he had to tell twice. They all clamored onto the bison and flew far away from the spirits.

"I don't get it," Aang began, "This spirit just shows up and picks a fight," he continued, much as he hates to admit it Azula did have a point and it's not very likely that they did anything to bother the wolf. Besides that feeling that he got, it was like the wolf was calling to him.

"It's not like he's the first," Sokka spoke up, "Remember Haibai?" He asked,

"Haibai had a reason to attack," Aang pointed out.

"But we didn't know that at first," Katara reminded her boyfriend, "Maybe this spirit has a reason too," she suggested and Aang nodded.

"Maybe, but what is it?" He asked,

"Well whatever it is we can figure it out in the morning, it's getting late and we probably shouldn't go into the town in the middle of the night," Zuko said and again Aang nodded before looking out over the horizon.

"There's a forest up ahead, we'll stop there." He decided.

* * *

By the time they landed the sun had set and so Zuko lit a fire. While he was busy doing that Azula helped Sokka unload by tossing the bags down to him. Once that was done she dismounted the bison and when she expected to turn around and face Sokka she found that he was already off setting up a tent and it was Zuko she was looking up at.

"Are you ok?" He asked her and she felt her heart speed up at the question.

"I'm fine," she lied,

"Azula I saw you hiding during the fight, that's not like you." I informed her and she sighed.

"Look I'm just mad that dad is still trying to manipulate me, so unless you want me fueling my fire with rage again I'm a little out of it until we find mom." She confessed, leaving out exactly how long she had been 'out of it' for of course.

"You can't bend?" He asked in surprise but Azula's eyes only narrowed, this is the last conversation she needed to have right now.

"Just give me some time," she snapped, marching past her brother.


	24. Chapter 24

Azula awoke early and in a cold sweat. She looked around to find that the sun had not yet risen, but it wouldn't be long until it did. Rolling over she tried to will herself back into sleep for just an hour longer or so, but it was too late. Her thoughts were already haunting her. Mocking her that she was truly hated by her mother, and that there's only one way to ensure Zuko always suffers with her.

 _"No,"_ She thought to herself as the horrid idea made her stomach churn. _"No, never. I'm not that person anymore!"_ She was trying to convince herself of this fact, that she is no longer a monster. But her father's blood fought back and she soon found herself springing up from where she lay and hurrying away from the group.

* * *

"Hm?" Sokka muttered as his eyes cracked open against their will, having been woken by something.

He heard something faintly rustling in the trees and immediately was on alert, boomerang in hand. But as he sat there listening he realized that the rustling was getting further away, not closer, until it faded completely. He was about to go back to sleep when he noticed that someone was missing from their camp, Azula. Although he was sure there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for this he still decided to get up and go find her. He headed off in the direction he had previously thought presented a danger to the group, as now he was sure the rustling noise that woke him had come from Azula walking off. He walked around for a few minutes through the trees of the small forest and was considering turning back and just waiting for Azula to return when he heard something that concerned him, the sound of someone gasping for breath. Picking up his pace a little he soon came to a clearing by a Cliffside and when he saw what was there he suddenly became extremely worried but also extremely glad he had decided to investigate. Sitting up with her back against a tree was Azula, her head tilted back as she panted heavily until she lunged forward when her gasps for oxygen became blocked and garbled as if she were choking. It wasn't until something actually came out of her mouth that Sokka realized she was throwing up and when he did realize this he was tempted to walk away and give her some privacy, then later act like he never saw anything. But instead he approached her and said nothing as he squatted down behind her and gently took her hair in his hands, allowing her to brace her weight on both arms. Once she was done getting sick, for now at least, she fell back on her knees and only when she gasped for breath did Sokka hear the crack in her voice and realize that she was crying.

"Is everything ok?" He asked her, letting her hair go as she wiped her eyes and then her mouth.

"Just perfect," she seethed and so Sokka sat down in his spot, letting his legs fall on either side of the girl in front of him.

"What's wrong?" He asked and with a sigh she crawled around to face him, looking up at him as if she were a terrified child.

"I want to kill her," She confessed, her voice practically a whisper. Normally she wouldn't be so compliant to talk but she needed to talk to someone before she let this anger boil over and did something she'd regret. "I mean, I don't want to but I just, I don't-" When the words wouldn't come and the tears instead came in their place Azula abruptly clamped her mouth shut, wishing that she could just disappear.

"Azula come on, talk to me." Sokka pleaded, fully understanding just how serious this was.

She opened her mouth to try and speak but instead she just began choking again until she threw up, Sokka quickly scrambling to change his position before she threw up on him.

"I'm sorry," Azula gasped out once she was done.

"It's ok, just calm down." Sokka said to her, to be honest he was scared. They had all thought that Azula deciding to join them was when she fought through her crucible but it's apparent now that they were wrong, or at the very least she wasn't done. "Are you talking about your mom?" He finally asked, sitting back and placing his hands on his knees.

"I don't want to hurt her," she assured him, a desperate look in her eyes like she didn't believe her own words. "But ever since we decided to do this, it's all I've been able to think about. When I got the information out of Ozai he made sure to remind me that I'm part monster," she admitted,

"You're not part monster," Sokka told her sternly, "You may have been raised by one but that doesn't mean you are one. You didn't have a choice when you were a kid, but you have a choice now." He told her but she only continued to avoid his eyes as she pulled her knees up to her chest. "What does Zuko think?" He asked,

"I haven't told him," she admitted,

"Azula-"

"I can't tell him," she cut Sokka off and her stern glare finally met his, like the only thing she was sure of in this world was that her brother could never know about her demons while Sokka could only be sure that Zuko did in fact need to know. "He was the one that mother loved, I can't even mention that a part of me wants to rip that away from him." She continued.

"You're mom loved you both-" Sokka tried but Azula shook her head.

"No, she didn't." She said before taking a deep breath both to brace herself for the coming conversation and to calm her anxious stomach. "Zuko was the last light in her life, I was the key to sealing her into a living hell." She spat and now Sokka was a mix of terrified and confused by what she was saying.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, not knowing what else he could possibly say.

"She knew that Ozai was a monster, and she hated him. I was her child; something she wanted to love but I'm also part of him. Take it from me; loving and hating someone with equal halves of your heart can and will destroy you, living hell." She explained but Sokka just looked quizzically at her.

"Zuko has just as much of Ozai in him as you do and-"

"No, he doesn't." Azula interrupted and Sokka arched an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" He asked and with a sigh his companion pulled a folded up paper out of her boot and handed it to him. Taking it and unfolding it Sokka scanned the paper to realize that it was a letter, written by Ursa to a man named Ikem, and upon reaching the end his eyes went wide. "You have to tell him," he finally said, knowing full well that Azula hadn't informed her brother about this either.

With a groan Azula got to her feet, "I know," she moaned in defeat as Sokka stood up as well. She began to head back into the cluster of trees, but Sokka grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"This doesn't matter to your mom," he assured her and she took her wrist back before crossing her arms.

"If I try and hurt anyone, I want you to stop me." She said darkly,

"It won't come to that," he tried to tell her.

"Sokka," her tone was final, but still he argued.

"No, Zuko just released Aang from his word-"

"I'm not asking you to kill me," She interrupted.

"Oh," Sokka said and Azula rolled her eyes.

"I'm asking you to keep your eye on me and get me out of there if I look like I'm going to do something none of us want. I'm asking you to take me somewhere, anywhere, and talk me back." She explained and for the first time since he found her Sokka looked very unsure of himself.

"Sure," he said, afraid that Azula wouldn't listen to anything he has to say should she ever become so far gone that she tried to murder her mother.

"Thank you," Azula said before she disappeared into the trees. Unlike Sokka she had faith in his abilities to get her to see through the rage that might consume her, because she remembers what he said to her the first time she was shot and he was bandaging her, and how he's the only one who's ever been able to talk her back from the edge before.

* * *

"There you two are," Zuko said with relief when the two missing members of their group came out from the forest. "Um, is everything ok?" He questioned, Sokka looked really nervous while Azula looked downright guilty. Only when his sister snatched it did Zuko notice the paper in Sokka's hand, now in Azula's hand. As she approached him she wouldn't look him in the eye, instead she just held the paper out with a scowl on her face.

Confused, he took it and scanned his eyes over it. It was another one of their mother's letters, one that he hadn't yet read. After discovering the room Zuko was sure that he had gone through all the letters in the trunk but this one he must have missed, somehow. It was addressed to Ikem, the only person besides his grandparents any of the letters had been addressed to and based on the way Ursa spoke he and Azula had figured that Ikem was an old boyfriend.

 _"My dearest Ikem,"_ the letter began, _"It's taken me a long time to admit it, but you were right. I belong with you, and nothing is worth this pain. My one consolation is our son Zuko. When I look into his eyes, it's as if I'm looking into yours. My thoughts are with you always. Love, Ursa."_

Zuko had to read it twice just to notice the confession hidden within the words, and then a third time just to make sure he had read it right.

"What's it say?" Aang's curious voice questioned and with a stunned look on his face Zuko handed the letter to him and Katara for them to read.

"No way," Katara said in awe when she finished the letter.

"Zuko…" Aang trailed off but his friend still had his eyes locked onto Azula, still trying to understand why she looked so guilty and then as all of this information finally processed it clicked.

"How long did you have this?" He asked in an even voice, she gave a sigh and a shrug.

"I found it right before I found the letter that mentioned Hira'a," she admitted, finally daring to look up at him.

"Before you called me over," Zuko stated and Azula nodded, and that was when his face grew angry.

"So this whole week, you've known that I'm…" He trailed off and his face fell back to shock, just now really processing what all this meant.

"That you're not Ozai's son?" Azula spat, looking angrier than Zuko had been a moment ago. "No you're not, congratulations." Her words were laced with venom. "Now can we get out of here?" She demanded, bringing everyone out of whatever thoughts that they were in.

* * *

"Are you ok?" Katara's voice cut through Azula's thoughts just a few minutes later while they were flying aboard the bison.

"Do you want an honest answer?" Azula snapped with a deadpan look, honestly since her anxiety had reached the point where she'd thrown up she didn't really care about keeping her reputation in tact.

"Sorry," Katara said, kneeling down beside her.

"I suppose I should be grateful," Azula scoffed, "I wanted to know what made Zuzu so special, why she never tried to stop Ozai from monopolizing me, and now I know." She said and the look Katara gave her was completely heartbroken and full of pity; she hated it.

"I know this is a lot, and I know you've had more time then any of us to think about it-"

"What's to think about?" She snapped, effectively cutting Katara off. "Zuko's the child of the man she loved and I'm the product of the monster who forced her away from him, she loved him and resented me. What is there to think about?" She demanded again.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Katara said as she settled into a more comfortable position, "But I don't think who your father is ever mattered to your mom. I mean, Ozai's or not you're still her daughter." She tried to assure the obviously upset girl but it didn't seem to work.

"Katara put yourself in her shoes; suppose just for a moment that somebody ripped you away from Aang and forced you to marry a monster. Now suppose you were already pregnant with Aang's child and you passed it off as the monster's. Now suppose this monster finds out and forces you to bear him a child, can you honestly tell me that you wouldn't resent that child just a little bit?" She questioned and Katara couldn't help but glance over at Aang as she tried, keyword tried, to imagine such a predicament.

"I hope not," she finally answered, sounding almost defeated. "But we don't know that your mom was forced into anything," she said, the confident strength back in her voice.

"Do you really think she was in favor of the idea?" Azula deadpanned and again Katara looked hopeless.

"This is crazy," Zuko finally spoke up, turning around to join the girls' conversation. "Mom never hated you, she just didn't know how to handle you. This doesn't change anything." He said sternly.

"Zuko's right, I mean he was still raised as Ozai's son." Sokka pointed out but it did little to help.

"That doesn't change that he isn't," Azula seethed, "She said it herself, he reminded her of Ikem-"

"That doesn't mean she loved you any less," Zuko cut in, "And when we find her we're going to prove it." He said, the finality of his voice ending the argument.

 _"I hope you're right,"_ Azula thought to herself.

* * *

They landed a few hours later on the outskirts of the little village of Hira'a. Zuko pulled up a hood and Aang tied on his headband in a small effort to disguise themselves so that people wouldn't figure out they were the Avatar and The Firelord; although Katara was skeptical about Aang's disguise having any effect considering he'd shaved his head. But it must have worked because as the five of them walked into town no one gave them a second look.

"So we're in the town, where do we start?" Sokka asked as they walked through the streets.

"Hm, there looks like a good place." Aang suggested, pointing to a large crowd of people gathered by a stage.

"Oh can we never get away from this?" Azula questioned in annoyance as the group drew closer to the stage and she realized that the crowd was watching a performance of _Love Amongst the Dragons._

"They seem to be doing better than the Ember Island Players," Zuko mused,

"Doesn't take much," Azula more or less agreed.

As the play ended the crowd began to disband, thus leaving the five teenagers standing there without much of a plan. But there was an elderly couple who seemed to have been very into the play standing nearby, talking about how it compared to last years, and Zuko decided they didn't have many other options.

"Excuse me," he said kindly as he approached them, "We're looking for information on a woman named Ursa, I believe she used to live here." He asked politely.

"Ursa… Ursa… wasn't she the magistrate's daughter?" The old man asked his wife,

"Oh yes! Rumor has it she-"

"Excuse me," The woman was cut off by a man wearing the mask of the blue spirit popping up behind Katara and Sokka, who each jumped back with a start. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." The man quickly apologized as he took off his mask. He was a middle-aged man with light brown hair that was only starting to gray pulled back into a ponytail and a matching goatee. "My name is Noren. I'm the director of the Hira'a acting troupe. Ursa was once a member." He explained, holding out a hand to Zuko.

"Really?" Zuko asked, taking the handshake.

"That explains why she always dragged us to those plays," Azula mused under her breath so that no one would hear her.

"That's right!" The old woman suddenly exclaimed as her memory was jogged, "She always wanted to play the dragon empress but she never got the chance!" She continued,

"Why? What happened?" Katara asked and the woman opened her mouth to reply but Noren cut her off.

"Why don't you five come join me in my home for tea?" He offered, "I'll tell you everything you want to know about Ursa." He continued,

"It would be an honor, thank you." Zuko accepted with a bow, but Azula couldn't help but glance over her shoulder at the elderly couple who had decided to move on with their day. Something was fishy here and if Noren continued to give her that sense throughout the evening she was going to make sure the old woman got a chance to finish her sentence.


	25. Chapter 25

Noren's house was simple and small but very pleasant. His wife was home and while Aang and Katara sat around the table with her, Sokka off in the backyard helping Noren, Zuko and Azula sat by the fire pit where they noticed a little girl peeking her head through the back door.

"Hi," Zuko said to her in a sweet and encouraging voice, it kind of reminded Azula of the way Amaya talks to Rin considering the little girl isn't used to her.

"Hi," the child said in a small and shy voice. Azula decided that she couldn't be much older than Rin; in fact she looked to be a little younger. She looked very much like her father but there were some subtle traces of her mother in her, such as her nose and the shape of her face.

"Were you outside with your daddy and our friend?" Azula asked in the friendliest voice she could manage, Noren had mentioned that he and his wife, Noriko, had a daughter. The little girl nodded shyly and Azula smirked.

"Well I hope you're keeping an eye on them. I'm sure your dad can handle himself but our friend can be a bit of a klutz." She said and the little girl giggled.

"He's ok," she said and Azula smiled.

"Good," she said,

"Want to meet my doll?" She asked, a little more confidence in her voice.

"Of course," Zuko replied

"Sure," Azula said at about the same time and so with a bright smile lighting up the little girl's face she forgot all her shyness and plopped herself down in Azula's lap as she held out her doll.

At first Azula was taken back by this action, sure she shared a bed with Rin once but that was only because there was absolutely nobody else around Rin could've gone to. This little girl, there were plenty of people in the house she could've run over to, but she chose her and Zuko; and she chose to sit on her lap.

"This is Kiyi!" She proudly introduced her doll,

"Your dad told us your name was Kiyi," Zuko playfully mocked,

"It's such a good name, I used it twice!" Kiyi explained, her pride still in her voice.

"Smart, I wish I had thought of that when I was little." Azula said as she peered over Kiyi's shoulder to get a better look at the doll, not that she really cared all that much but it would be rude to let Kiyi know that.

Just then Noren walked in, followed by Sokka, and smiled down at his daughter.

"Kiyi, are you being nice to our guests?" He asked her and she nodded before getting up and trailing behind him over to the table.

"When did you become good with kids?" Zuko asked, almost with a laugh, and Azula simply shrugged.

"Probably at some point during my time with Uncle. My friend Guang has a sister about her age," she explained and Zuko nodded before heading over to join the others at the table.

"How are you doing?" Sokka's voice came as he took the space Zuko had just vacated.

"That depends, are you still holding my leash?" Azula questioned and although Sokka didn't want to he nodded. He knows he can't control her, even if he wanted to he couldn't. But he won't say anything because maybe, just maybe, all Azula needs to get through this is someone to hold her hand; and that is something he's more than happy to do. "Then, I'm as ok as I'm going to be." She mused with a sigh "I just can't stop thinking about if I were to-"

"You won't," Sokka assured her, face dead serious.

"I wish I could believe that," she scoffed but Sokka's face only hardened, if such a thing were even possible.

"You already do," he told her, "It was barely a year ago that you spent a good portion of your night telling me that you aren't a killer, and you're not." He said sternly but she still didn't look convinced.

"People change Sokka," She said but he wouldn't buy it.

"I know, and you did change." he tried to convince her but it still didn't seem to be working.

"Maybe not enough," she muttered and Sokka sighed but said nothing, instead he just got up and went over to the table before promptly returning with two dumplings and a cup of tea.

"Eat one of these," he more ordered than offered, setting the tea down in front of her and holding out the food.

"I'm not hungry," Azula muttered.

"Look I understand that you're going through some stuff and you can't keep a lot down, but you need to eat something. So please just drink that and eat at least half of a dumpling." This time he sounded more like he was asking rather than demanding but Azula gave in and took one dumpling from him. Even she had to admit that she felt a little better after this morning and this was the first time all week that eating didn't feel like forcing food down her throat.

"I must admit, I was a little suspicious when you all started asking about Ursa. But Sokka tells me that you're drama historians!" Noren exclaimed and while Noriko seemed to think that this was wonderful, both Azula and Katara gave Sokka deadpan glares.

"Really?" Azula finally asked in a whispered voice.

"I know, I know, you're amazed at my genius cover story." The Water Tribe boy said and Azula couldn't help but face palm.

"Ursa, the woman you asked about, was probably one of our troupes most famous members. But not for her acting. Years ago she was… well… taken to the Capital City but no one knows why." Noren explained and no one missed how the word "taken" seemed to sound more like "kidnapped" coming off his tongue.

"Supposedly she married into the royal family, of course I moved to town long after this had already happened but I've still heard the rumors." Noriko put in.

"What about Ikem?" Zuko asked, upon first discovering the letters he had been curious about what became of his mother's old boyfriend but now, now that he had reason to believe the man may be his father, he had to know.

"Ikem was another actor and Ursa's boyfriend, but he disappeared not long after Ursa left." Noren replied,

"What do people think happened to him?" Zuko questioned, wondering if maybe he had gone after Ursa and Ozai had him… taken care of.

"No one knows, but they say he was so heartbroken over Ursa leaving that he went into Forgetful Valley." Noriko answered,

"Forgetful Valley?" Aang asked,

"It's a forest just outside of town, but it's forbidden. No one who goes in ever comes out." The woman answered gravely before turning to her husband. "You know, I vaguely remember hearing something about Ursa coming back at some point, looking for Ikem." She said and her husband gave her a completely bewildered look.

"That can't be true! No one has seen or heard from Ursa since she was taken to the Capital City!" He exclaimed and Noriko sighed,

"I'm sure you're right but I wish I could remember where I'd heard that," she said and this time Noren sighed.

"Probably from Mrs. Takayama, she's always spreading gossip and rumors." he suggested and Noriko nodded.

"Probably," she agreed, Azula narrowed her eyes.

"If you don't mind my asking, how well did you know Ursa and Ikem, Noren?" She questioned and the older man sighed.

"Not well," he said, "I moved to town and joined the troupe the same year that they disappeared. We only knew each other for a few months and I'll admit that I was rather shy at first, they seemed very nice and I remember that they were always together…" He trailed off as if he was trying to remember more, or he was lost in thought. "I'm sorry, I wish I had known them better and could tell you more." He apologized but Zuko smiled.

"You've told us plenty, thank you." He said.

* * *

After leaving the house, much to the protests of Kiyi who wanted her new friends to say, the five teenagers headed back to where they had left Appa. For the most part they were quiet, Zuko and Aang were quietly arguing about something but aside from that no one had much to say. That is, not until Zuko decided that it was time they all take a trip to Forgetful Valley.

"What?" Sokka demanded, "What part of no one who goes in ever comes out, did you not hear?" He continued,

"Sokka, you've faced deadly sea-serpents, the entire army of the Fire Nation, and Azula and her friends. You can handle a forest." Zuko said and Azula crossed her arms at his making an example of her but she couldn't exactly argue it.

"Well you guys can go on ahead, I'll stay here with the bison." She said,

"Azula-"

"Zuko please," she said firmly, almost begging. "I'm sorry but I don't think I can handle going in there." She pleaded and Zuko nodded reluctantly, he knew that Azula was upset about all this. She was upset that she was the only child of Ozai and she felt like having a different father somehow took away all of his inner demons.

She's wrong of course, he still feels all of the pain and anger that he always has and if anything it's harder now that he has the knowledge that if this is true then he didn't HAVE to grow up that way. Things could've been so much different for him, but they weren't. He was raised by Ozai, and with all the inner turmoil that entails.

"Ok," he agreed, knowing that there isn't anything he can say to get Azula to see that they aren't as different as she thinks.

Sokka trailed behind a little as the group started to head off, stopping and standing by Azula for a moment.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" He asked and she gave him a chuckle in response.

"I'll be ok, I promise I won't hurt anyone." She said and so he gave her a nod before hurrying to catch up with the others.

* * *

Once the others were out of sight Azula headed back into town and knocked on the first door she saw. A man opened the door, probably in his thirties.

"Sorry to bother you, I'm looking for a Mrs. Takayama? Do you know where I could find her?" She asked and the man replied with an address and so after thanking him Azula headed off.

She knew that Zuko was dead set on finding answers in Forgetful Valley, and even if he weren't she knew he wouldn't go for this. She could see it in his eyes; he trusts Noren. But she just couldn't. The only good thing Ozai ever did for her was he taught her how to read people. There was something about not just Noren, but his wife too, that didn't sit right with her. First off their names are Noren and Noriko; what are the chances of two people with such similar names ending up married? Second there's the way Noren kept conveniently cutting off the old woman who Azula can only assume is Mrs. Takayama this morning every time she was about to say what she believed had happened to Ursa, not to mention how quickly he challenged his wife when she brought up the possibility of Ursa having returned at one point. Then there was the bogus claim that he didn't know them well. Thanks to a criticism her five-year-old self had made about the Ember Island players being terrible she had once earned a rather long lecture from her mother about respect and appreciation, one that included a lecture of how players are so dedicated to their craft that they often spend more time with each other than their own families. If that's true, and basing judgment upon how quickly her friends had all bonded into a familial unit, it's highly unlikely he didn't know them well.

When she arrived at the house she was looking for she went up to the door and knocked, and unsurprisingly the elderly man from this afternoon answered.

"Hi, I know it's late but your wife was trying to tell my friends about a woman named Ursa earlier today, do you think I could speak to her?" She asked, being as polite as she could manage.

"Morgana! There's someone at the door for you!" He practically shouted as he marched away from the door. Azula wasn't quite sure of what to do with herself but it wasn't long before the woman she had seen in town earlier came to the door and led her into the house.

* * *

"Ursa was a very sweet girl," Mrs. Takayama began as she poured some tea for her guest and herself.

"Sweet? Her and that boyfriend of hers were nothing but trouble," her husband commented bitterly and the old woman sent him a scowl as he walked by and disappeared up the stairs.

"You'll have to excuse him," she said to Azula, "he's still sore about all the practical jokes Ursa and Ikem used to play on him." She explained before getting up from her seat and going to the bottom of the stairs in order to be certain that her husband would hear her. "They were ten years old and that barn was coming down anyway, get over it!" She shouted up at him.

He yelled something in reply but Azula didn't catch it, she was to busy snickering over the idea of her mother taking down an old man's barn as a child; maybe she didn't get all of her darkness from Ozai after all.

 _"Yes you do,"_ A stubborn voice rang in her head and she groaned, couldn't she just have one moment of peace?

Grumbling to herself the old woman returned, "Like I said, ignore him." She advised before taking a sip of her tea. "Ursa was very sweet girl, involved with the theater troupe from the time she was a little girl. I was a good friend of Grandma Guchi, the old director. She was always raving about how hard working Ursa was. When she was nine she would crawl under the stage with a hammer and fix the supports that the men couldn't reach as easily. When she was sixteen she'd pout at her boyfriend until he put her on his shoulders so they could get the high scenery pieces up without waiting around for somebody to finish with the ladder. She loved every part she ever had, but from the time she joined the troupe she had her heart set on playing the Dragon Empress when she was old enough." The old woman spoke with a proud and rather amused smile before it faded into a mournful frown. "Poor girl, she worked so hard all her life to get that part one day. She finally got it too, but she was taken away to the Capital City before the first rehearsal." She finished and although a part of Azula was saddened by the story, another part of her was a strange mix of intrigued and, oddly enough, happy. The more she heard about her mother's life before the palace the more she started to be reminded of herself.

"Noren's wife said she had heard something somewhere about Ursa returning?" She asked the older woman who seemed very confused by the information; odd considering Noren seemed sure Mrs. Takayama was where Noriko got her information.

"If she did this is the first I'm hearing of it, and considering Noriko didn't move here until long after Ursa left she wouldn't have recognized her but word like that would've traveled fast." The old woman mused, gripping her chin thoughtfully. This wasn't adding up for her either.

"This might sound strange but humor me, can you tell me anything about how Noren knew Ursa?" She asked, the director's story still not sitting right with her.

"Noren?" Mrs. Takayama asked incredulously. "He didn't move to town until almost a year after Ursa left." She said and at that Azula nearly choked on her tea. Sure she had doubted Noren's story but she thought he at least knew Ursa.

"So he never knew her?" She asked and Mrs. Takayama shook her head.

"He couldn't have," she insisted and suddenly Azula felt as though she couldn't breathe. "Are you ok dear?" Mrs. Takayama asked; seeming to notice the unnerved look Azula had on her face.

"Um, yeah it's just, Noren said that he knew Ursa and Ikem?" She asked it more than stated it, but all the same, Mrs. Takayama shook her head.

"No, Noren came to town after Ursa and Ikem disappeared. I remember because of how heart broken Guchi was when they vanished, they had been with the troupe practically their whole lives, and how she seemed to finally stop mourning as if they were dead when Noren came to town. I couldn't tell you why, but he had some sort of calming effect on her." The old woman ranted and Azula knew to believe her, but at the same time she didn't want to, because it could very well mean that Zuko and the others walked straight into some sort of trap.

"What about Noriko?" She asked, maybe the story of Noren's wife could somehow explain this.

"Noriko?" Mrs. Takayama asked, clearly finding Noren's claims of having known Ursa just as suspicious as Azula. "She's a quiet one, sweet and friendly once you get to know her, but she mostly keeps to herself. She never knew Ursa either, or Ikem. She moved here about seven or eight years ago, eight! That's right because the little one is four now and they were together for a little while before getting married." She seemed to be talking mostly to herself, but Azula still paid close attention.

Eight years ago.

Mother had left when she was seven, and considering her fifteenth birthday had passed while she was out on her own, it had been eight years.

That couldn't be a coincidence. That Noriko, who seemed very off and was married to a man who clearly lied about having known Ursa, showed up around the same time Ursa disappeared from the palace.

Azula didn't know how, but she was going to get to the bottom of this.


	26. Chapter 26

Azula left the Takayama's house with every intention of going back to Noren and Noriko's to figure out just why they're lying, after promising Mrs. Takayama that she would report back because the old woman was now equally suspicious, but something… distracted her.

Somehow she wasn't surprised by what she saw so much as she was surprised by the fact that nobody else in this village seemed to notice. Then again maybe they were all hiding in their homes and cowering in fear; after all a giant glowing tree with four heads, no eyes, two horns on each head, surrounded by ghostly floating heads, and stemming from the center of a place known as Forgetful Valley, isn't exactly something that you should run towards. That being said Azula did just that, the whole time wondering what her friends could've possibly done to cause this.

* * *

Of all the ways Zuko had imagined this search going, and there were plenty of ways, somehow battling a very angry spirit that Aang accidently picked a fight with was not on the list. When they entered the forest they found a pond, which Aang claimed gave him a very spiritual vibe. There they found Misu and Rafa, a brother and sister from the Northern Water Tribe who had been living in the forest for many years in search of a powerful spirit that could reverse the effects of Koh the face stealer who Rafa had gotten on the wrong side of. This spirit, The Mother of Faces, was said to be very wise as well as powerful but she would only grant the humans one request. Much as he wanted to ask about his mother Misu and Rafa had been searching for this spirit for so long, so Zuko let them have the favor. After Rafa's face was restored The Mother of Faces disappeared into the pond she came from but something inside of Aang snapped. They had come so far, and while The Mother of Faces had accused all humans of being selfish beings nobody here was motivated by anything selfish as far as the Avatar was concerned. Rafa wanted to see and eat and breathe again, while Zuko and the currently absent Azula needed to find out what ever became of their mother if either of them was ever going to find peace. So looking at the facts neither request was selfish, that being said the young Avatar probably shouldn't have tried following The Mother of Faces in an attempt to reason with her because now the entire forest was attacking the group of humans.

But yet, here they were, fighting off an entire forest of angry spirit animals.

"Try not to hurt them!" Aang warned

"Because they're spirit animals, we know!" Katara shouted back but it was clear that even she knew not hurting the creatures was becoming less and less of an option.

Just then a loud roar resonated through the chaos and Zuko looked up to see Appa flying into the commotion, and knowing Aang hadn't called for him he knew what that meant.

"What did you do?" Azula asked as she came leaping down off Appa, who in turn started head butting away the larger spirits.

"Nice of you to join us," Zuko sarcastically said, noticing but choosing not to comment on how his sister was generating fire in order to protect herself.

Azula, obviously, noticed this too. After her conversation with Mrs. Takayama, where she learned that maybe she's a little more like her mother then she always believed, she felt better. She could still feel the dark storm raging in her mind but it was different now. It was almost as if it was just in the back of her mind, like her subconscious was refusing to forget it solely because she doesn't yet know what will come next, and she could handle that. She didn't know if this feeling would be temporary or permanent but for right now it didn't matter, what mattered was that for the first time in months she was capable of bending because rage wasn't consuming her; and it felt exhilarating.

"Seriously, what did you do?" She asked again,

"We inadvertently ticked off a spirit who hates humans, what does it look like?" Zuko responded and Azula rolled her eyes. She wanted to comment but before she could something was sent crashing into her from behind and only as she was picking herself up off the ground did she realize that it had been Sokka that crashed into her.

"Hey," he said weakly as he picked himself up and offered her his hand, which she hesitantly accepted before allowing him to pull her to her feet.

"Look out!" She shouted just as she sent a blast of fire right over Sokka's head at an oncoming spirit attacker.

"Please, try not to hurt them!" Aang's voice came shouting,

"Try telling them not to hurt us!" Azula snapped back just as Aang and Katara hopped onto Appa and came flying down by the rest of their friends, encouraging them to hop on.

* * *

"Ok, say all that again?" Zuko asked of Azula once the group had set up cam for the night, FAR away from forgetful valley, and were sitting around a fire. Azula had just told the group about her meeting with Mrs. Takayama and after Zuko finished scolding her for going behind his back he seemed willing to listen, while pacing around with frustration of course.

Azula huffed out a sigh, "Noren is hiding something," she said simply. "He told us that he knew mom, but he didn't." She continued,

"How do you know he's the one lying? Mrs. Takayama could just be a crazy old lady with her dates mixed up," Zuko suggested and although Azula hummed with thought it was clear that she didn't really consider the possibility.

"Aside from the fact that Noren cut her off twice this afternoon he was also very quick to assure Noriko that she was wrong about mother having returned here at some point, which by the way this is probably the first place she would've gone." She answered and Zuko sighed as he finally stopped pacing and took a seat next to her.

"Why would he lie?" He asked her,

"I don't know," she admitted.

"But we're going to find out," Aang's voice cut through the siblings' conversation. Everyone looked over at the young avatar as he took up his meditation position, "We came this far, and we're going to find out what happened to your mother. There has to be someone in the spirit world who can help, hopefully someone who doesn't hate humans." He grumbled,

"Thanks Aang," Zuko said gratefully and Aang only nodded before closing his eyes and before the others knew it his eyes and tattoos were glowing brightly.

"We should take turns guarding his body, just in case those angry spirits come back." Katara suggested and the others nodded in agreement, it was getting to be late and they should've all been laying down to go to sleep but she was right; at least one person would need to stay up on lookout.

"I'll take first watch," Sokka volunteered.

* * *

When Aang opened his eyes he found himself in a very familiar and swampy looking section of the spirit world, the place he often found himself upon entering. He looked around in confusion at first; there was no one in sight.

"Hello?" He called as he began wandering around, "Hello?" He tried again.

"You!" A venomous voice called out and Aang knew without looking who it was.

"Hello, Moth-" That was about as much as he was able to stammer out before the angry spirit cut him off.

"How dare you follow me into the spirit world! You may be the bridge between our two worlds but you have proven today that you are just as selfish as any other human!" She bellowed and just as she raised her tree like arms and no doubt was about to summon more of her friends like she had done in the forest, Aang got an idea.

"Wait!" He exclaimed, "Before you do anything please just hear me out, If you help me I can help you." He tried to bargain but the spirit may as well have laughed in his face.

"What could _you_ possibly do for _me_?" She demanded but Aang determination didn't waiver.

"My friends need your help to find their mother, and I can help you find your son." He bargained; Koh may be the last spirit he wants to be tracking down but if it'll help find Ursa then that's just what he'll do.

* * *

"Not tired?" Sokka asked the only member of their team who was still awake apart from himself.

"Exhausted," Azula responded in contradiction to his beliefs, "But I just can't sleep," she said as she sat up and looked over at him. He was sitting a good five or so feet away from her and guarding Aang's body loyally, but with enough trust that nothing would happen to the Avatar's physical form that he was also yearning for someone to talk to just pass the time.

"How are you?" He asked her and she chuckled,

"How long is it going to be before you stop worrying about me?" She asked in response and Sokka smiled a small but genuine smile.

"We're friends, I'm always going to worry about you." He said and although she tried not to show it Azula was taken back slightly by his reply. A part of her wondered when they had become friends, probably around the time she confided her demons to him she guessed.

"It's funny," she finally answered, "I mean I don't know how long it's going to last but after today I'm not… I don't know if there's a word for it but I feel better." She said and Sokka smirked.

"I'm glad," he said but she frowned,

"But like I said, I don't know how long it will last." She said and Sokka sighed, then it was quiet for a minute, and then he sighed again.

"Remember that night we flew to Ember Island?" He asked, "when you asked me about Katara showing mercy to the man who killed our mother?" He continued and Azula frowned.

"Sokka I'm not going to hurt anyone, you don't need to give me the _murder is wrong_ speech again." She sneered but Sokka just stared vacantly into the ashes of their fire.

"Not that," he said, briefly sparing her a glance before turning back, "Look, I didn't tell you or anyone else this but I wanted him to die." He admitted; his voice was so cold, so serious, and so uncharacteristically dark. "I didn't want Katara to kill him, and I don't want to kill him either. I don't want either of us to have to live with that kind of guilt. But if I'm being honest, there is a part of me that wants him to suffer." He admitted and based on his expression just the mere thought inflicted plenty of guilt onto his conscience. "I felt that way for about a year after I lost my mom, but then dad had to leave and suddenly I was in charge. I didn't have time to be angry anymore, so I wasn't. But then Zuko showed up with a way to find the man who took my mother from me, saying that we actually could make him pay for what he did. At first I didn't feel any of that anger because I knew the price for making him pay was too great and revenge was something we couldn't have. But then I started thinking that if it wasn't…" He trailed off, clearly as ashamed by these thoughts as Azula was of her own.

"Why are you telling me this?" She finally asked and for the first time since he began Sokka looked over at her.

"Because you're right, it's not going to last." He told her, "It might for a few hours, a few days, and eventually it'll have been years since you last thought about it." He told her, "But even after years something will turn that anger back on, and when it does you'll be more afraid of yourself than you ever were before because you'll have spent the years thinking you had won. But suddenly it's back, and you don't know how to turn it off again." He was looking away from her again, and by now she had moved to be sitting next to him.

"Does it ever end?" She asked; her eyes equally focused on the embers of the fire. Sokka only shrugged in reply.

"I don't know," he admitted, "But although scarier, it is less powerful after a few years so I hope so." He answered and Azula smiled, glad to hear something like that. "I just want you know that you're not dealing with this alone. We all have darkness in us, not just you and Zuko. None of us were born good or evil, we all have both sides in us." He promised and Azula smiled gratefully, but before she could say anything Aang's eyes opened and he turned to face the two; though he locked eyes with Azula.

"Any luck?" She found herself asking and the young Avatar nodded, he knew what happened to her mother.

* * *

So, according to the mother of faces, Noren was lying but not without reason. He had known Ursa, in fact he knows Ursa very well. Noriko was also right, Ursa did return to Hira'a and she did find Ikem. He apparently had met the mother of faces in Forgetful Valley years before and with her help he changed his identity, to Noren. When Ursa returned she decided to take the same path but unlike her now husband she traded more than her face; she also traded her memories. Everything about her old life: her name, her parents, the palace, her children, she had forgotten all of it. This news, of course, reignited some of Azula's anger but not nearly enough to send her back to any thought of murdering Noriko, well aside from one fleeting one but it was easy to push away so she decided not to count it.

Actually, she felt oddly content about the matter. She hadn't known a lot of true happiness in her life but she did have some very few and far between memories of the emotion and this feeling right now, it felt close. It was like a mix of happiness and pride, and she decided that this must be what it's like to feel happy for someone. Her mother had done it, she had done the impossible and forgotten about Ozai.

"So what now?" Katara broke the silence after Aang had finished the story and everyone took more than a few minutes to take it all in.

"We got what we came for, we should go." Zuko decided and everyone, Azula included despite her similar feelings, looked at him with surprise.

"Zuko, what about that letter?" Aang questioned, "We need to know who your father is," he said and Azula frowned, because now she knew what the two of them had been arguing about earlier.

The identity of Zuko's father, it was a political matter. If it truly is Ikem then technically Zuko has no right to rule, and so Aang needs this settled. But they don't need Ursa to settle this, no that's something Azula can do.

"No, WE don't." She said, not meaning to have as much venom in her voice as she did but certainly not sorry for it. "If Zuko needs to know, then that's one thing. But as far as politics go it changes nothing." She spat and although Aang looked as if he wanted to argue he kept his mouth shut.

Zuko, however, was quiet. The truth is, he does need to know. He needs to know who his real father his. But he can't. Regardless of if Ikem is his true father or not the truth would undoubtedly put Azula through a whole world of pain. If it was true and they were only half siblings then she'd be angry, maybe even resentful, that he doesn't have the burden that comes with Ozai's blood. He'll never tell her, in fact he'll lie if need be, but the idea of not being Ozai's child fills him with hope and lifts some of the weight from his shoulders. If things were to turn out that the letter is a lie then Azula would feel nothing but sorry for him. She'd be able to see his hope crushed and realize how much being Ikem's child would've meant to him and she'll be too filled with sorrow to be angry; because it would've meant the same to her.

"The mother of faces gave me this," Aang finally said, holding up a small vile. "If your mom drinks it, it'll return her to the person she was." He explained and Zuko nodded before locking eyes with Azula, who was obviously just as conflicted about this as he was.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry this chapter took so long to get up! I had a really bad case of writer's block and then i had some stuff going on and every time i sat down to write i got called away for something else. Thanks so much for your continued support with the reviews, it really means the world to me!**


	27. Chapter 27

Why they even came back here no one could say for sure. They had gotten their answer, they found what happened to Ursa, but they still returned to her house. Perhaps if it weren't for that stupid letter they would've been able to just load onto Appa and go home. But no, when morning rolled around they went right back into that town. Subconsciously, Azula found herself walking rather close to Sokka. She couldn't exactly place why, maybe it was something to do with their conversation last night or maybe it was the fact that she could still feel traces of the darkness that was trying to take over her mind and he has a calming effect on her. No matter the reason she was only glad that he didn't seem to notice how close she was and if he did he didn't say anything.

When they got to the house of Noren and Noriko they found the couple outside, Noren stacking logs into a neat pile while his wife and daughter worked in their small garden. It was Kiyi who turned her head and noticed the teenagers first, a bright smile lighting up her face as she got to her feet and ran over to them.

"You came back!" She exclaimed excitedly as she threw her arms around Azula's waist, taking the older girl by surprise.

Azula, understandably, was completely dumbfounded at first and it was only now that her mind fully processed who Kiyi really is. She's her sister. Ironically, after swearing she could never be cut out for being a big sister that is apparently exactly what she is. She wanted to resent Kiyi, but she couldn't see the logic in that. Mother chose to forget her old life, she doesn't remember that she had a daughter already; she wasn't trying to replace her. But she still wanted to blame Kiyi and she figured that the only way to combat these terrible feelings of resentment was to force them away with acceptance. So she let a small smile spread across her face as she lifted the young girl up and balanced her on her hip.

"We aren't staying long," she said, she had no idea how long they'd be staying but the smart thing to do would probably be to just say goodbye and leave. In fact they probably shouldn't even have come back at all, they should've just left.

"Awe," Kiyi whined as Azula set her down, disappointed to hear that her new friends would be leaving soon.

"It's nice to see you kids again," Noriko said warmly as she approached the group.

Azula admittedly froze up a little bit, not that anyone noticed because she hadn't been doing anything anyway, and a murderous angry thought or two crossed her mind but she was quick to banish them away.

"It's nice to see you too," Zuko said to the woman in as casual a voice as he could manage. "We just came back because yesterday we forgot to ask, um, if you and Noren are happy," He explained and Azula fought the urge to face palm, is that _really_ the best that Zuko could do?

"That's a bit of an odd question," Noriko observed,

 _"Yeah, no kidding."_ Azula thought to herself, her brother couldn't have been less subtle if he tried. "Just go with it," she found herself muttering.

"Well, yes we're very happy here. Noren loves directing the troupe and Hira'a is such a nice place." She said and Zuko smiled,

"Thank you," He said and that was when Noren appeared behind his wife.

"Hello," he said in a friendly voice, "What's everyone talking about?"

"Noriko was just telling us how happy you two have been the last few years, we're on our way out now." Zuko responded but Noren sighed as he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, his look of almost guilt was not something Zuko had been expecting.

"I knew this day would come," he muttered to himself and Azula felt her eyes widen when she realized what was going on, not only had he figured out who they are but he was also going to tell his wife.

"Honey?" Noriko asked, she too heard her husband's words and was confused by them.

"Noriko, you know how there are a few years of your life that are fuzzy?" He asked her and suddenly she looked horrified.

"Grandma Guchi told me that it would be best I try and not remember," she reminded her husband before she turned to the five teenagers, feeling that she should explain herself. "Noren and I grew up together in a town not far from here, until he was recruited by the Hira'a acting troupe. I came here a few years later but all the time after he left was very fuzzy, Noren brought me to Grandma Guchi who explained that I must have experienced something very traumatic and it would be best I simply move on with my life." She explained and Zuko sighed before locking eyes with Noren.

"You don't have to do this," he said to the older man but Noren's face was unmoving.

"I always knew I would someday, and all things considered now is probably the best time." He said and Zuko nodded, his face somber.

"If you're sure, we have something that can help." Aang said, stepping forward with the vile. He didn't have to explain what it was and Noren took it as his wife watched this whole exchange in complete confusion.

"What's going on?" Kiyi questioned and Noriko only looked to her husband for an answer.

"Noren?" She asked and he sighed,

"During those fuzzy years, you were married." He confessed solemnly, "It was an arranged marriage to a man whom you didn't love. You had two children but you had to leave them, a spirit took your memories and gave you a new identity. This serum will undo that, but it's up to you." He explained to her and if she looked confused before she was completely lost now.

"What? How? Who?" She stuttered out and as she did Kiyi just looked back and fourth between her parents.

"Us," Azula cut in, taking Zuko's hand and holding it up in order to make clear that he and herself were the two children Noren was talking about. "But trust me when I say you don't want to remember our father… err… my father." She clarified before releasing Zuko's hand, now Noren was almost as confused as his wife, if such a thing is even possible.

"What's going on?" Kiyi whined again, but instead of answering her mother ushered her towards the group of teenagers.

"Why don't you show Katara and Sokka our garden," she encouraged the girl who looked like she wanted to protest but one look from her father convinced her and she led the two Water Tribe siblings away, and Aang followed them in interest of leaving the more or less reunited family alone.

"I don't understand," Noren said, mostly to Azula.

"I don't think any of us do completely," She replied as Zuko brought out the letter and handed it over to Noren.

"Here, it was never sent." He explained and Noren took the letter, his wife reading it over his shoulder.

"This, this isn't possible." The older man stuttered, "We, we never…" He trailed off, digging deep within his memory to be sure that he was right and they never had been together in that sense, but he knew that they hadn't.

"Nor-" Noriko cut herself off; she saw the names on the letter and looked up at her husband. "You said that spirit gave me a new identity…" She trailed off as some of the pieces, the important ones, fell into place. Noren just looked at her with an almost guilty expression and she snatched the vile from his hands.

"Wait!" Zuko quickly warned, "You don't have to do this," he told her but she just took the cap off the vile and looked between her husband and the children she had forgotten, then she tipped the vile against her lips.

"No!" Zuko shouted; lunging forward to stop her but Azula pulling on his arm in order to keep him back stopped him.

Far behind the group the rest of their friends heard Zuko's shout and turned to see Noriko's face being engulfed by a blinding light, very similar to the one that transformed Rafa the day before.

"Mommy!" Kiyi cried out, running over to her family. Azula, however, saw her coming and let go of Zuko in order to scoop her up. "Mommy!" The little girl continued to cry as the teenager held her firmly in her arms.

When the light faded away it was no longer Noriko who was standing there, instead it was Ursa. She looked to Noren, or Ikem as she now remembered, and then to her children. Zuko and Azula were just staring with wide eyes, unsure of what to do. Although Azula did have a little more of a tether to reality than Zuko, as she had a sobbing four-year-old clinging to her with her grip only tightening with each passing second.

"Kiyi," Azula groaned as the young girl cut off her air supply. Noren, or Ikem, whatever they're supposed to call him now that the truth is out, came over and peeled his daughter out of her arms.

Ursa, looking a little older but otherwise the same as she had when Zuko and Azula last saw her, approached her two oldest children hesitantly.

"For the record we told you not to drink it," Azula muttered but instead of responding with words her mother threw her arms around her.

Azula, at first, didn't know how to respond to this. So for a second or two she just stood stiff in her mother's arms before she finally returned he hug, and as she did she felt all her walls break. She clung tightly to Ursa, burying her face in her shoulder, as she began to cry tears that were long overdue. She didn't know how long she stayed like that, but she didn't care. Nor did she care who was around to see it. Eventually Ursa let go and turned to Zuko, wrapping him in a hug and at this point it was her who lost control of her tears. Everything was flooding back to her, including how she selfishly sacrificed the memory of her own children.

"Why don't we all go inside?" Noren suggested.

* * *

"I had suspected that Ozai was intercepting my mail, so I wrote that in order to get him to confess it. You were born within the same year of our wedding so I knew that he would be suspicious enough to confront me." Ursa explained as everyone sat gathered around the table.

"So… so it was a lie then?" Zuko asked and Ursa nodded sadly, she hated that her words had given him so much hope that maybe he wasn't permanently tied to that monster.

"Yes," she confessed and Zuko, understandably, looked disappointed but he said nothing. "I owe you both an apology," she continued, "I never should've allowed that spirit to take my memories of you." She said,

"Can't say I blame you," Azula muttered bitterly, but her words were still loud enough for all eyes to fall onto her. "I'd want to forget about me too if I could," she continued and the look Ursa gave her was one of pure heartbreak.

"Azula how can you say such a thing?" She asked and Azula glared at her incredulously.

"You're kidding right?" She demanded, "Every time you turned around I was setting him on fire!" She practically shouted, jerking a thumb towards Zuko. "I was turning into my father! Why wouldn't you want to forget a daughter like that?" She demanded as she leaned forward over the table just enough to look her mother in the eye. "You were always so busy sending me to my room and making sure poor little Zuko wasn't hurt that you never even bothered to check on me!" She shouted with rage, Zuko motioned to grasp a hand onto his sister's shoulder but Sokka grabbed his wrist before he could and shook his head. He was watching Azula, making sure she wouldn't go over the edge. Right now she was just saying what needed to be said, what's needed to be said for over eight years. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I just didn't understand? Did the thought ever cross your mind that what you punished dad praised and I was simply listening to the one who didn't punish me? That maybe I just needed you to explain to me WHY whatever it was that I did was wrong?" She demanded as her rage hit its boiling point. "No! Of course not, because you-ah!" She abruptly cut herself off with a shriek of surprise when she felt to familiarly strong arms wrap around her waist and lift her up out of her seat.

"Excuse us for just one second," Sokka said as he carried away his squirming friend, feeling about as ridiculous as he looked.

He carried her all the way outside and then a good distance away from the door before he finally put her down when they were standing at the side of the house.

"What was hat for?" Azula demanded with a huff as she crossed her arms, "I wasn't going to hurt her." She continued but Sokka's hard eyes didn't soften in the least.

"Maybe not physically but your mom already feels bad enough that she forgot you, you didn't need to start accusing her of not caring." He reprimanded and Azula's face softened as she fully processed what she had been about to say.

"Thank you," she said in a whisper of a voice and Sokka nodded.

"You're welcome, now take a few deep breaths, calm down, and go have a civil conversation." He ordered and she nodded, but before she could completely regain her composure the sight of her mother approaching caught her eyes.

Seeing that Azula was clearly distracted by something behind him, Sokka turned around and noticed Ursa heading their way.

"I'll just leave you two alone," he said and before Azula could stop him he gave her a reassuring smile, letting her know that he trusts she'll be ok.

As he walked off and Ursa walked closer Azula fidgeted nervously where she stood, making a conscious effort not to cross her arms or do anything else that could cause her to come off as angry.

"I'm sorry," she muttered when her mother finally reached her, but Ursa only responded by placing a gentle hand on her face and prompting her to meet her gaze.

"I love you Azula," she practically whispered, "and I'm the one who's sorry, for not loving you enough." She said Azula wasn't sure whether she should feel guilty or grateful about the apology, all she knew was that this time it was her who initiated the hug with her mother.

* * *

"Don't go," Kiyi pleaded with her new siblings later that evening as they were heading out, she was still having difficulty understanding most of what had happened earlier in the morning but she seemed to have accepted the fact that she had an older brother and sister.

"We have to Kiyi, be good and I promise that mom is still mom." Zuko said to her, the little girl had hardly looked at her mother since this morning and was still very wary.

"You're sure?" She asked and her brother smiled warmly,

"I'm sure," he promised, it seemed to make Kiyi feel a little better.

"You can stay if you want," Ursa said to Azula who was tossing her bag up to Sokka on Appa's saddle.

"Thanks but I caused a lot of damage during the war, I need to go fix it." She declined, the past year has been such a whirlwind of change for her and much as she would like to stay in Hira'a with her mother, sister, and step-father, starting a new life without helping correct the mistakes of her old one would just feel too much like running and hiding. Besides, she'd like to see the world without trying to conquer it for Ozai.

Ursa smiled in understanding before she gave her older daughter one last hug goodbye. "Promise me you'll come and visit?" She asked and Azula smiled as she pulled out of the hug.

"Of course," she said and that was when Zuko came over to them.

"Ready to go?" He asked Azula and she nodded, but when he didn't move to give their mother a hug she became confused.

"Aren't you coming back with us?" She asked him but he shook his head.

"Uncle is organizing another way for us to get back," he explained and Azula nodded with a smirk, she had heard Zuko and mother talking about her family visiting the Capital at some point but she hadn't realized they meant right away.

"Try and send for me when you're back?" She asked her brother and he smirked back at her.

"Trust me, I'll get in touch with you." He promised before taking her by surprise and wrapping her in a hug. "I'm proud of you Azula," He whispered into her ear.

"Thanks," she whispered back before smirking playfully, "Now get off!" She laughed, this time making sure she was loud enough for the others to hear.

Zuko chuckled and released her, then with one last wave goodbye she turned around and accepted Sokka's hand as helped her climb up onto the Appa's back.

"Goodbye," Aang called as he settled himself at Appa's reigns.

As they took off into the air Azula watched the image of her family get smaller and smaller until they completely disappeared from sight.

"Wish you had stayed?" Sokka inquired as he took a seat beside Azula.

"Partly," she admitted as she turned and faced him, "but I'm not ready for a life so… domestic, not yet." She said and Sokka couldn't help but snort with laughter. "What?" Azula asked in amusement as her friend pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

"Nothing," he laughed, "It's just that if you had stayed you probably would've ended up meeting some guy, getting married, and having kids, and I just can't picture you as the housewife type." He explained through his laughter and Azula smirked.

"Good because that is never going to happen," she said but to be honest, it probably is going to happen. Not now, not even soon, but someday. Someday she wants to return to Hira'a and who knows, maybe she will end up with the life that Sokka is having difficulty imagining. "So where exactly are we going?" She asked, changing the topic and Sokka sighed happily.

"The situation in Yu Dao is finally stable and they're unveiling the new government changes, apparently we have to be there." He explained and Azula smiled.

"You sound bored," she teased and he groaned.

"Believe me princess, once you see these political things you'll understand why." He said and she chuckled.

"Oh yeah, because I've never been to a political meeting." She teased and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Good point, in fact these are probably more fun than Fire Nation war meetings." He agreed and she smirked.

"Probably," She agreed.


	28. Chapter 28

"So what's worse, this or Fire Nation army meeting?" Sokka asked roughly two weeks later when they were all assembled in Yu Dao, awaiting the announcement of the city's new governing system; a city council composed of two Earth Kingdom and two Fire Nation officials.

Azula pursed her lips and thought for a minute, "Tie; Fire Nation war meetings are far more depressing but they also go a lot faster." She decided and Sokka nodded in agreement.

"Is anything happening yet?" Toph questioned as she approached the two, they had been standing around for so long that she was beginning to wonder if maybe she just couldn't see whatever was going on for whatever reason.

"Nope," Sokka sighed with a shake of his head, but then as if on cue, the gong rang to grab the attention of the large crowd. "Oh well now something's happening," Sokka said and Azula rolled her eyes.

"If I had known it was that simple to get things moving, I would've asked you if you saw anything an hour ago." She commented but Sokka said nothing, he just wanted to get this announcement over with.

Little did he know that behind both him and Azula, Toph was smirking evilly, relishing in her ability to detect a person's heart rate.

* * *

It was later, during the banquet that was being held to celebrate the new city council, that Toph found her window for teasing. She and Katara had been discussing how the Metalbending Academy was growing quickly and that she needed to find a way to finance a new building. Sokka quickly suggested that she start charging tuition but she rejected the idea, sure it's the obvious answer but it's also dirty and underhanded. She's trying to expand on this whole new level of Earthbending, and she doesn't want to stop someone from being able to learn because of something like money. She then made an example of how she didn't charge Aang tuition and wasn't going to start now, prompting Katara to finally notice that her boyfriend was still yet to show up to the table.

"When you find him, tell him he's got to reconsider that vegetarian thing. His mouth will thank him!" Sokka called after his sister, his mouth stuffed with more Turtle-Duck than it should physically fit, as she left in search of the Avatar.

"Wow, I think you managed to say something more insensitive than I could." Azula drawled in bored amazement as her friend attempted to swallow without choking.

"What was insensitive about that?" He asked in exasperation but Azula only rolled her eyes, an amused smile playing on her lips.

"Whatever," she commented; looking over her shoulder and taking note that Iroh currently wasn't talking to anyone over at his table. "I'll be back," she casually informed as she got up and left.

Toph sat silent for a moment, letting the smirk take full effect on her face before she spoke. "So, when did you start having a thing for ex-princess psycho?" She asked and she couldn't help but lean back laughing in her seat as Sokka choked on his latest bite of turtle-duck.

"What?!" He finally gasped, though not without the aid of the Air Acolyte Yee-Li smacking him on the back.

"Oh man, somebody tell me how wide his eyes were," Toph laughed and so Jingbo, the younger brother of the Air Acolyte Xing Ying, placed a dumpling in her hand and she laughed even harder.

"Ha ha," Sokka mocked dryly, waiting for his friend's howling to calm down. "Very funny," he continued and eventually Toph came back to a semi-calm state of being.

"It was," she agreed, "But I wasn't joking." She confirmed and the Water Tribe boy only lifted an eyebrow. "I'm serious, and by the way I don't need to be able to feel your heart rate when she's around to know you like her." She mocked and Sokka's face turned beat red, only causing Toph's smirk to grow.

"Ok first, I do NOT like Azula." Her friend insisted, "Second, why don't you tease her about this instead?" He asked but Toph only gave a shrug as she continued to pick at her plate.

"I THINK she likes you, but she's really good at keeping her heart rate steady. You on the other hand..." she drawled and Sokka frowned, he does NOT like Azula.

The two of them probably would've continued on with that conversation if it weren't for the fact that Aang and Katara returned right at that moment, Aang grinning from ear to ear and Katara smiling a little more subtly.

"Guys, pack your bags! We're going on a field trip!" Aang declared.

* * *

"Man, you guys are going to love this!" Aang exclaimed the next afternoon as they all took off on Appa, the destination being a Cliffside where they were to celebrate an Air Nomad holiday known as Yangchen's Festival.

"Doubt it," Sokka moped with a sigh,

"What's with you?" Katara questioned in annoyance but before Sokka could give a reply Azula rolled her eyes and answered.

"He's just sore because his bag started falling apart and he didn't have time to go buy a new one, so he had to pack half his stuff in mine." She explained and Katara looked quizzically at both of them.

"Well I was going to go shopping for a new one today but nobody bothered to tell me I'd be leaving Yu Dao at sunrise!" He argued and this time it was Katara who rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry Sokka, after this you can shop for a new purse." She told him and Azula had to stifle a laugh at that, suddenly realizing how much her friend's bag resembles a large purse.

"It is not a purse! It's a bag!" Sokka insisted, "A manly bag to carry my manly things!" He continued,

"Yeah, that's why when you first got it you were so happy it matched your manly belt." Toph put in and this time Azula couldn't contain her laughter.

"It was a championship belt from an underground fight ring," He explained, directing a glare at Azula.

"It was also mine," Toph reminded and Sokka had no response for that and Azula just laughed harder.

The conversation wasn't dropped so much as it was cut off by the sound of Yee-Li clanking a pair of cymbals together, apparently this festival involves music.

* * *

"I thought it'd be a statue of Yangchen but this lady doesn't have an arrow on her forehead, who is it?" Sokka asked once they had arrived at their destination and found the giant statue of the woman Aang said they were supposed to bow to as part of the festival.

"To be honest, I'm not sure." The Avatar sheepishly admitted, "The monks used to tell the kids the story every year but I always snuck off with Gyatso to fly kites." He explained and Azula crossed her arms over her chest.

"Never pegged you as one to skip class," she teased Aang who chuckled while nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"He always said I'd have time to learn it when I got older, in any case I know that we're supposed to bow to her four times. That's just how it's done." He said and upon hearing that, Toph frowned.

"I'll pass," she said and the three of her friends who were standing right there looked at her incredulously.

"But Toph-" Aang began but he was cut off.

"You go ahead, but I'm not bowing if I don't know who or what I'm bowing to." The blind girl insisted and Aang let out a sigh, he was not going to ruin today by fighting with the most stubborn person he has ever met.

"Fine," he said before beginning to organize the others into a line for the bows.

For a moment Azula considered joining Toph in sitting out, understanding the younger girl's logic perfectly. But in the end she took her place in the line, needing to trust that bowing to this statue was in fact justified.

After they finished bowing to the statue, which the three Air Acolytes inexplicably found to have been some kind of wondrous experience, they began walking down the hill with Aang and the Acolytes attempting to play some traditional song on their instruments. They were headed for a meadow where Aang had planned for them to have a picnic of traditional Air Nomad food (much to Sokka's distain) but instead they found themselves standing of the edge of a rather industrial looking little town.

"Oh no," was all Aang was able to mutter but it hardly mattered, they all knew that once upon a time this had been the location of his sacred meadow.

"This… None of this is supposed to be here. This is, was, a sacred place!" Aang exclaimed in shock as the group entered the town.

"A hundred years have passed sweetie, a lot can change." Katara told him gently and behind them Sokka was sniffing the air.

"Meat!" He exclaimed, his eyes lighting up.

"Seriously, more insensitive than me." Azula deadpanned, echoing her comment from the previous night.

"Hey, I'll be a lot nicer when I have a full stomach." He said to her but she only rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, like that's even possible." She said sarcastically but Sokka mostly ignored her and instead began following Toph in the direction of the market.

"We'll be back later," he called over his shoulder to Katara and Aang; Azula promptly followed him.

As the three of them walked through the town Azula took note of how much it looked like Yu Dao. It was different from the colony in many ways; smaller, smoggier, and just about everything in the market was on the verge of rotting. But the people seemed to be from both the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation, which was odd since they were no longer anywhere near any of the colonies.

"I guess the colonies aren't the only blended areas," she commented as Sokka purchased some kind of kabob, which smelt to be about a day from going bad.

"Hm?" He asked, obviously he hadn't been listening. Azula just rolled her eyes with an amused smile, "Nothing," she said and so they continued walking around.

"Ugh, what is that smell?" Azula asked as they moved through the town,

"I don't know but it smells worse than Appa when twinkle-toes gives him a bath," Toph commented and Azula eyed her curiously.

"You mean before the bath?" She asked, remembering that Toph can't see the look she's getting.

"You've never smelled wet bison have you?" Toph asked and Azula said nothing, because no she hasn't.

They soon found that the source of the smell was a 'river' that looked more like a sludge slide.

"Well that's gross," Azula deadpanned

"I can't see it, but-" Toph was cut off by the sound of someone calling her name.

The three of them looked over to see that the person calling Toph was a boy about their own age with glasses and an industrial grade rubber apron and gloves with welding goggles hung around his neck.

"Yeah?" Toph said in response to her name, walking over to the boy.

Based on the high-pitched tone of his voice he appeared to be more a fan-boy than anything else and as Toph fell into a conversation with him Azula nudged Sokka in the side to get his attention.

"Did we just get ditched?" She asked and he shrugged, taking another bite of his kabob. However the longer Toph spent talking to the boy, the more Sokka thought he just might have the perfect payback for the blind girl's comments last night.

The boy, apparently named Satoru, brought them all on a tour of this town's main and really only attraction; The Earthen Fire Refinery. He explained that his uncle, a Fire Nation man, partnered with a businessman from the Earth Kingdom to build this place. The workers were people from all over the world, mostly Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation but also more than a few from the Water Tribes.

"Wow," Jingbo said in amazement when the group walked into the production room,

"You said it Jingbo," Sokka agreed and Azula had to agree with them on the impressiveness of this place.

People from all different nations were working not only within the same room but also on the same task. They were mining these crystals out of the earth, each different type of bending being used for a different step in the process.

The next room was one that housed giant machines that preformed the same mining procedures as the bending production line only it was completely done by machine. Sokka was impressed but for once Azula found herself agreeing with Katara in the fact that she preferred the other production line. After that they went outside where Sokka found a machine called a forklift, something Azula could only describe as being a very small and very un-weaponized tank, and decided to take it for a spin.

"Sokka!" Katara scolded

"Relax Katara, I know what I'm doing." He said before placing a hand on Azula's shoulder.

"Azula, you coming?" He asked and a part of her knew that this was very bad idea, but another part of her argued that it would be really fun and that is the part she chose to listen to. So she let him pull her along with him and then she sat herself down in the barely big enough for two seat of the forklift.

"I hope you actually do know what you're doing," she said

"Psshh, how hard could it be?"

* * *

Very hard was apparently the answer. Sokka ended up crashing the forklift and effectively breaking the engine. Although neither he nor Azula was hurt in the process Azula almost wished that they were so that maybe Katara would hold back some of her anger.

"He's just being nice you know, it is your fault!" She scolded her brother after Satoru insisted that the engine of the forklift had been in questionable condition before Sokka broke it.

"I know," Sokka muttered and with that the waterbender's murderous glare shifted over to Azula.

"And you! What were you thinking?" She demanded to know,

"I was thinking that it looked kind of fun," Azula snapped in defense, Katara let out a growl of frustration and appeared to be ready to say something else when Sokka cut her off.

"Is it just me, or is there some serious oogie-osity going on over there?" He asked, directing the girls' attention over to Toph and Satoru. They were talking and smiling, Toph was smiling. Not that sarcastic smirk that she usually has but a sincere smile and even from a few feet away the three could see the slight blush creeping onto her face.

"Just don't say anything to her," Azula said as she folded her arms across her chest, she knows Toph is guarded and she also knows from experience that being guarded can make a person awkward about liking someone. So if Toph had managed to allow her feelings to show just a little bit then her friends better not ruin it for her.

But it was looking like that is exactly what was going to happen, as just a minute after she said this Aang walked over and approached the two.

"Satoru, I hate to interrupt the, um… whatever it is that's happening here, but I've been trying to tell you all day that there shouldn't be a refinery here, let alone a whole town!" He said and so Azula, Katara, and Sokka all paid close attention, knowing that whatever came out of this conversation would probably leave at least one of their friends more than a little upset. "This land was, is, sacred to the Air Nomads! You aren't supposed to build on sacred land!" He continued and before Satoru could say anything Toph crossed her arms.

"No offence Twinkle Toes but no one's been here for over a hundred years! It was vacant land and if Satoru and his Uncle can find a way to use it then good for them!" She defended her new friend.

"Toph, I've been seeing these visions of Avatar Yangchen trying to warn me about something bad happening!" Aang told her but she was unfazed.

"Oh yeah, what's she showing you?" She demanded and Aang looked down as if in defeat.

"I-I'm not sure," he admitted, "It was like a flash of an image in my mind, but it was big, and destructive." He told her but if anything his words only made her angrier.

"So you're worried over something you don't even know?" She demanded, "If you ask me you're just sore because your precious meadow was turned into a town, and you're so worked up about it that you can't even see-" Her rant was cut short by a rather sudden earthquake.

It wasn't a huge quake, but it was definitely enough to prompt everyone to grab the nearest solid thing.

"Guys, calm down!" Sokka shouted at his friends as soon as the quake ended, Azula untangling her arms from his as he did so.

"You think that was us?" Aang asked incredulously,

"Dude if Katara's anger can break you out of solid, hundred year old ice, then I'm pretty sure yours and Toph's combined can cause an earthquake." He deadpanned but both the earthbenders frowned.

"Sorry to disappoint you Sokka but we both know how to control-" Toph was cut off by another quake, bigger this time, but the damage was still minimal.

"Would you guys-"

"It's not us!" Aang and Toph cut Sokka off in unison.

"Satoru, what is going on here?" A rather annoyed voice demanded as large, bald man in Fire Nation clothing came walking up the hill, with another man behind him.

"Uncle!" Satoru squeaked but everyone else had their attention focused on the Earth Kingdom man behind him.

"Father," Toph finally uttered in a whisper of a voice, recognizing the second man immediately.


	29. Chapter 29

Everyone was silent upon seeing the Earth Kingdom man, and those who didn't know who he was to the gang figured it out when Toph finally found the strength to speak.

"Boss Man Lao? You never told me that you had a family." Satoru stated and it was only then that Lao seemed to snap out of his shocked state.

"I don't," he said coldly and just about everyone felt his or her heart grow heavy with the words.

"Fa-" Toph was cut off by her now furious looking father.

"You kids are trespassing, I want you off this property within the hour or else security will be called to escort you off!" He practically shouted and Azula noticed Toph's fists, no her whole body, tense as she tried to keep herself from crying.

"Uncle," Satoru said in a pleading voice, begging for his Uncle to maybe try and reason with his partner.

"This is not your business Satoru, now come and help me get those miners back to work before I have them all replaced." He more threatened than ordered, knowing that most of the crystal miners had fled the buildings when the earthquakes hit.

"Yes Uncle," Satoru said with a sigh, hanging his head in defeat.

With that both the older men turned and left, followed by a very unenthusiastic Satoru.

"Are we really leaving?" Sokka questioned but Aang shook his head with a scary determined look.

"No, we're not going anywhere until I talk with Satoru's Uncle about the location of this refinery." He said before he too marched out of the building, his Air Acolyte friends following him.

"What about- Toph?" Sokka asked, noticing that his earthbending friend was already halfway out the door.

"Toph!" Katara called but Azula held out a hand to stop her.

"I'll talk to her," she said, looking the waterbender dead in the eye. Katara nodded in agreement and so Azula followed the blind girl out of the factory.

* * *

"Hey," she said gently when she caught up with Toph on the side of the building.

"I don't want to talk!" The younger girl snapped, tears more than evident in her voice.

"Ok, I won't make you." The firebender said calmly, but she didn't slow her pace as she followed her friend. "Do you want to fight?" She asked, knowing that actions are far more in Toph's comfort zone than words.

"No," she sniffled, "Just leave me alone!" She whipped around and screamed, knowing that she was losing control of her tears.

But Azula didn't leave her alone; she didn't even let her turn back around. Instead she reached out and grabbed the girl by the shoulder and pulled her flush against her into a hug. At first Toph was somewhat hesitant to embrace the gesture, but she soon found herself gripping tightly to Azula's shoulders and slowly allowing herself to sob into her chest.

"You don't have to talk," Azula reassured her in a gentle voice, one hardly anyone ever knew the ex-princess was capable of having. "You don't have to tell me anything, but I would like you to listen." She requested and without waiting for an answer she continued. "I know what this feels like, and I know that you want to scoff and tell me I don't but I do. It hurts; it hurts more than anything. It hurts more than an arrow piercing into your heart, and I'm not exaggerating." She half joked but it hardly made a difference. "But you have a chance here Toph, I don't know if you could feel it but I saw the look on his face. He was so surprised to see you and he had mixed emotions about what he said. He's mad at you Toph, he's hurt and out of spite he wants you to feel that too, but he still loves you." She said, now trying to blink away some of her own tears as she took one of Toph's hands and gently placed it just below her collarbone, where her skin was seared over with a faded but still evident scar.

"You're dad?" Toph asked as she sniffled away enough tears to allow her to speak, she remembers very vividly the two separate occasions on which Azula was shot with an arrow under her father's orders but it had slipped her mind that the girl carried a physical scar, a visible reminder, of the attacks.

"Well the assassin he hired to take me out, but his orders." She sighed, "You're father may not see that he was wrong, but he did only want what was best for you. You're lucky to have that, so please, try and talk to him." She asked and Toph sniffled again as she wiped away the last of her tears.

* * *

"Where's Toph?" Sokka asked when Azula found Katara and himself out by the sludge slide that Satoru claimed was a river.

"Talking to one of the owners of this place, what are you two up to?" She asked and Sokka briefly considered asking her for more information but he eventually decided against it.

"Satoru's Uncle is insisting that this isn't a result of the refinery," he explained, gesturing to the 'river' in disgust. "Personally I think he's a big fat liar but we're checking it out anyway," he informed,

"Yeah and I keep drawing water out of that spot, more than should be able to slip through the rocks." Katara informed, pointing to a spot on the cliff across the river where the rocks looked suspiciously stacked.

"Hm, let me try something." Azula said and then, without warning, she reached over and took Sokka's boomerang from its sheath on his back. He didn't even have time to protest before she had tossed it at the rocks and hit them in a way that they came crashing down, revealing a rather unstable looking entrance into what could only be an underground mine.

"Whoa," Katara said as boomerang came circling back and Azula caught and placed it back into Sokka's sheath, all with a completely straight face despite the fact that his jaw had long since hit the ground and his eyes were about a mile wide.

"Should we see where it goes?" She asked,

"Probably," Katara answered and so the two of them set off to cross the river.

"She took my boomerang," Sokka finally spluttered out, still stunned by Azula's boldness.

* * *

"There doesn't seem to be much down here," Azula commented as the three of them made their way through the underground tunnels, her leading the way as the resident Fire Bender and there for source of light for the time being.

"No but it doesn't look abandoned either," Sokka argued and Azula hummed her agreement.

"Not to mention that this place, according to Aang, was a meadow a hundred years ago. A lot may be able to change in that time but for two mines to come, and for one to have been forgotten, is pretty unlikely." She said and Sokka nodded his own agreement.

"Guys, I hear something up ahead." Katara cut in, and so the other two listened.

They heard it too, the sounds of voices shouting and pick axes hitting solid rock. They kept moving and soon they found themselves out of the tunnel and in a huge underground mine with a huge furnace like machine that emptied out green and brown sludge into the once blue water that ran through the mountain.

"This must be the source of the river's pollution!" Katara gasped as the three stealthily snuck over to the edge of the furnace.

"Hey! You kids! Get away from there!" A booming voice ordered, clearly they hadn't been stealthy enough.

The three whipped around to see two of the infamous Rough Rhinos standing behind them.

"Rough Rhinos!? Why'd it have to be Rough Rhinos?" Sokka questioned in exasperation.

"What, think we can't take 'em?" Azula asked her friend with a teasing smirk, although the fact that the archer Vachir was one of the two they were facing did give her a momentary flashback.

"You're right," Sokka agreed, his confidant smile now on his face.

The battle commenced, beginning with Kahchi swinging his guan dao at Sokka's head, but the Water Tribe boy quickly dodged the attack and knocked his opponent off balance with his own sword. Meanwhile Vachir sent an array of arrows at Azula and Katara but the girls were even faster than Sokka to dodge the flying objects. As they did, however, Katara took note of what happened when the weapons landed in a support beam of the mine.

"Guys stop! This place isn't just the source of the pollution; it's the source of the earthquakes! Those beams are going to give out and we're right beneath the town!" She exclaimed, "We need to stop fighting or we'll only make things worse!"

"Tell them that!" Azula shouted as she sent a blast of fire at Kahchi. Knowing that they didn't have time to deal with the apparent security guards of the mine Katara bent some water from the river and froze both of them. "That works," Azula said with a shrug.

"We need to get these people out of here before the whole place collapses," The waterbender said and Sokka nodded.

"No problem," he said as he climbed up onto a stack of crates.

"Attention everybody! Listen up!" He hollered and the workers turned their heads. "This mine could collapse at any moment, so we need to get everybody out!" He announced but the workers all stayed where they were.

"Well don't all go running at once," Azula said, her usual sarcasm perfectly in place.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Sokka demanded as he hopped down from his crate. "This whole place could come down at any second," He insisted and finally a young worker approached him with a sigh.

"We're as happy about the end of the war as the next guy," She began, although by the tone in her voice she didn't sound too happy. "But when the war ended a lot of military jobs ended with it. We were lucky to have found this place. If we leave, we get fired. If we get fired, we don't eat. So unless the Boss Man orders us out of here we're staying." She said with determination, the other workers seemed to agree.

"Does being crushed to death sound like more fun?" Azula demanded, for a moment slipping back into her old, cold, voice. But the worker merely narrowed her eyes,

"We knew the risk of this job when we took it," she spat before turning away and heading back to return to her work.

Sokka narrowed his eyes, his mind racing with a plan.

"You two stay here and try to talk some sense into them, I'm going to get the Boss Man." He said to Katara and Azula before turning on his heel and rushing out of the mine.

* * *

Talking sense into the miners was, of course, useless. The girls tried but they were only met with a mix of silence, insults, and wishful glares. It wasn't until Sokka returned with Lao, Toph, and Satoru in tow that things looked like they might actually go somewhere.

"Mr. Beifong! You've got to evacuate everybody! The mine is what's causing the earthquakes, it's too unstable!" Katara exclaimed as she rushed over to the group, Azula right on her heels.

"But, but this mine shouldn't even exist!" Lao exclaimed, clearly just as surprised to see this place as anyone else who had ventured down today. "Loban and I agreed that it would be far too dangerous to try and excavate the iron ore deposits down here!" He continued.

"You mean you agreed!" A very angry voice came from behind and everyone turned to see Satoru's uncle, looking royally pissed off. "This area has the biggest deposit of iron ore I've ever seen! I was not about to let it slip through my fingers just because you're to much of a coward to try and unearth it!" He all but shouted.

"Uncle," Satoru said in horror, finally getting the picture that his uncle may not be such an angel after all.

"We can talk about this later, right now I can feel the earth and ore shifting all around us, this place is coming down!" Toph interrupted and thankfully her father decided not to argue with her.

"Everybody out, now!" He ordered his workers.

"If you value your jobs you won't go anywhere," Loban threatened

"Ignore him and worry about your lives!" Lao ordered and while the two men argued with each other everyone watched them, so caught up in it that they didn't even notice Kahchi break free of his ice until he threw his sword at Sokka.

Sokka didn't see the attack coming, but out of the corner of her eye Azula did and without thinking she lunged forward.

"Sokka!" She exclaimed on instinct but it didn't matter, she was already pushing him out of the way, soon feeling the sting of Kahchi's blade as it sliced through her unscarred shoulder blade.

"Azula!" Sokka shouted, instantly dropping to help her up. But his gentle hands soon turned desperate with a hard grip as he tried to keep enough balance for both of them when Kahchi's weapon landed in yet another support beam, and the whole mine gave way.


	30. Chapter 30

Everything happened so fast, and yet so slowly. Kahchi's sword hit the support beam, the ceiling started crumbling and all the framework supports started snapping.

"Everybody out!" Sokka called and finally the workers listened.

They all ran towards the exit, Sokka dragging Azula by the wrist despite the fact that she was more than capable of following him. But before he could pull her through the exit a huge boulder came down between them, forcing Sokka to let go of her. He reeled around in surprise, needing to confirm that she was still there, but she wasn't. More rocks and walls had separated, the doorway that he had just passed through was blocked almost completely, and there were still people on the other side.

"Azula!" He shouted, desperate to hear her voice.

"Sokka!" It was Katara's voice that answered him, and it came from behind. "Sokka the tunnel is going to collapse too, we have to go!" She exclaimed as she began tugging on her brother's arm.

"No, Azula's still back there!" He argued, trying to shake his arm free of his sister's grip but she wouldn't let go.

"So are Toph, Satoru, and a whole bunch of others. We need to help them, getting crushed isn't going to do that!" Katara tried to reason and with one last look of worry back at the doorframe, Sokka gave in and followed Katara out of the mine.

* * *

 _"How are we not dead?"_ That was the first thought that ran through Azula's mind when the mine collapsed and left those who hadn't been able to get out in a cramped cave like structure. But only took a minute for her to find her answer, Toph was bending the earth and more specifically the iron around them to keep it from completely crushing them.

Suddenly the ground above them started to shake, and briefly Azula wondered if maybe Toph's focus was slipping, but the blind girl knew what was going on and it wasn't her.

"Hey, Twinkle Toes!" She shouted up at the ceiling, Aang was earthbending in an attempt to free them.

"Toph?" Aang's voice was muffled, but it was still audible.

"We're trapped in an iron mine, there's just as much metal as there is earth between you and us! Earthbend the wrong way and we're all goners!" She shouted up at him.

From above they could hear Sokka; he was saying something to Aang but whatever it was it was too quiet for those trapped in the mine to fully make out.

"We have to do something!" Aang's shout finally came through the ceiling of their little cave.

"Take Appa and go get the lily livers!" Toph shouted up, her students may be far from masters but they're the only other metalbenders on the planet.

* * *

"What happened?" Aang questioned his friends when he and the Air Acolytes found them and a half dozen others coming from the river after the latest, and by far biggest, earthquake.

"There's a mine under the town and it collapsed!" Katara explained as the workers who had been injured were taken by the Air Acolytes for first aid.

"Azula, Toph, and a bunch of others are still down there." Sokka informed

"Down where?" Aang asked,

"Right below us, you've got to use your earthbending to-" Aang cut Sokka off by bending a rather large chunk out of the ground.

"Do that," the non-bender finished.

"Hey, Twinkle Toes!" Toph's voice came snapping from beneath the earth's surface.

"Toph?" Aang asked, him and Sokka now standing in the crater he had created in the ground.

"We're trapped in an iron mine! There's just as much metal as there is earth between you and us! Earthbend the wrong way and we're all goners!" She snapped at him and Aang turned to Sokka, his eyes asking the older boy if maybe he had a plan.

"We need to get them out, fast." He said determinedly,

"I know but-" Aang began but he was cut off.

"Aang you don't understand. The security that Satoru's Uncle had down there were two members of the Rough Rhinos, one attacked me but Azula tackled me out of the way. She's hurt and without Katara or anyone down there who can help her-"

"Sokka calm down," Katara interrupted with a hand on her brother's shoulder, now joining the boys in the crater. "Azula can take care of herself," she insisted and Aang nodded his appreciation for her intervention before focusing his attention back on the dirt.

"We have to do something!" He shouted down,

"Take Appa and go get the lily livers!" Toph's muffled voice came,

"On it," Sokka said before turning and rushing to go get their bison.

"Sokka's on his way Toph, just hang in there!" The Avatar shouted back down to his friends.

* * *

"Lily livers?" Lao questioned his daughter,

"My students," she replied almost bitterly, "I opened up a school for metalbending, it's not far from here so hopefully Sokka we'll make it back before sunset."

"Not that we'll be able to tell," Azula drawled as she neared the two, Lao gasped when he saw her with her arms wrapped around herself in an attempt to stop the blood that was running from her shoulder blade.

"Young lady, your back!" He spluttered; he couldn't see much in the dim light from the few crystals that were down here but what he could see was blood running down her arms.

"I've had worse," she muttered but secretly she was afraid, sure she's had injuries that were far worse in damage but she hadn't been trapped underground when receiving them. So although the injury itself wasn't bad the amount of blood flowing from it was and she was a little nervous that she might lose too much before Sokka returned with their way out.

But instead of worrying about that she instead sat down close to Toph's father, mostly because it was the only vacant space. Once she was seated her eyes found Kahchi and she sent a glare his way.

"For the record, I blame you for this." She seethed and he only crossed his arms.

"You're the one who was sticking her nose where it doesn't belong," he defended and she just rolled her eyes but said nothing, Sokka better hurry up.

* * *

He needed to get there and he needed to get there fast. Sokka thought that the ride from Yu Dao to the Cliffside this morning had been long but this, this is just torture. He's racing from this refinery to Yu Dao and back, and what are the chances it won't all be in vain? Even if he makes it back with help before they run out of time underground the help he's been set to get are three of their friends who only just learned how to bend metal coins less than two months ago, what if they can't do it?

 _"No,"_ he thought to himself, he can't think like that. He needs to believe that they'll make it back in time. Before people suffocate, before Toph's metalbending proves useless and the mine collapses despite her, before Azula bleeds out.

That last thought only made Sokka more determined. It was his fault she was in this predicament in the first place. If only he had seen Kahchi break free of the ice, if only he had been more alert, if only he had been paying attention. Then that stupid spear landed in a support beam and set off another quake, Kahchi really does have impeccable aim. If only he had run a little faster, maybe yanked her over instead of letting go when the boulders started falling, maybe then she would at least have been able to have Katara heal her. There are a lot of things that he could've done, but he didn't. She trusted him with her inner demons; something he knew was no easy feat for her. She trusted him to stop her from giving in to the darkness, and he likes to believe that he hasn't let her down on that front. But that doesn't mean anything if she bleeds out because he was too slow.

He needs to make it.

* * *

"You've had worse?" Toph's father finally spoke up, addressing Azula. Satoru was talking to Toph and her father had walked away from her hours ago, Azula had started pacing at some point after her back finally stopped bleeding and only now did she realize how near she had walked to the man.

"I'm assuming you know who I am?" She asked with a sigh, she's not stupid. Just about the whole world knows that she defected from her father before the end of the war and despite his obviously thick head Toph's father doesn't seem like a stupid man.

"Princess Azula," he replied and Azula felt her stomach flip with disgust, she's not quite ready to hear that title again.

"Just Azula now," she told him, "You can't see them in this light, and the smoke from any fire I make will only suck away more of our oxygen, but my left shoulder has scars on the front and the back; both of which came from the arrows of an assassin that my father hired." She bitterly admitted, making an example of herself for the second time that day. Even in the dim light she could see Lao Beifong's face pale as she sat down next to him. She blinked rapidly when she sat, the sudden movement making her dizzy thanks to all the blood she'd lost, but eventually it passed. "My brother didn't have it much better, our father burned a permanent scar onto his face." She explained and she saw it when the man glanced over at his own daughter, who quite literally had the weight of the world on her shoulders right now. "I can't speak for my brother but in my opinion the arrows didn't hurt as much as it did knowing that the moment I was something other than who he expected me to be, I wasn't his anymore." She concluded and it looked like Lao wanted to argue but instead his face only fell.

"What would you want to hear from your father?" He asked instead and Azula thought for a moment, not that she really needed to.

"I'm sorry," she answered and he looked at her as if somehow the words surprised him. To be honest, it both did and didn't surprise him. He knew that would be her answer, but he really he couldn't believe that two words just might be able to fix things between him and his daughter. But he had to try, so he nodded his thanks to his daughter's friend before getting up to try and make amends.

Azula couldn't help but smile to herself as she watched this, she may never get a chance like that with Ozai but watching Toph and her father make up was almost just as satisfying. That is, it was until the dirt ceiling above them started shaking. Everyone in the cave looked up in panic, absolutely sure that they were all about to die.

"It's my students," Toph managed to inform everyone, well that helped a little bit.

It was a few minutes of everyone holding their breath as the earth shook above their heads before it finally opened up and the sun shone through, and that was when Toph collapsed.

"Sifu Toph!" One of the students, the young girl, called down when she saw her tougher than steel master go down.

"She'll be fine, she's just exhausted." Lao assured the girl as he carried his daughter up the dirt stairs that Aang had bent out of the hole.

"Azula!" Azula heard her name being shouted the instant she set foot back on the surface and she discovered that it was Sokka when he tackled her in a hug so forceful that he nearly knocked her over.

"Hey," she said, admittedly a little confused as to why he was this excited to see her. She knew he had to have been worried but she didn't think he was this worried.

"Sorry," he said as he helped her steady herself, he hadn't meant to knock her off balance. "Are you ok?" He asked and she smirked.

"A little banged up but fine otherwise," she said with a smirk, he should know by now that she can take care of herself.

"Anybody hurt? I've got plenty of bandages and splints!" Jingbo's small voice came shouting through the crowd as he surveyed all those who had been trapped underground, his little arms bursting with first aid supplies.

"I'll take one of those bandages Jingbo," Azula said to the young boy who handed her the bandage wrap, nearly dropping all his other supplies in the process.

She moved to head away from the crowd so that she could sit down and deal with her shoulder in peace but she stopped once she turned.

"Whoa," she said when she saw the metal that Toph's students had taken out of the ground, or more specifically the fact that most of it was welded into the shape of a giant mask.

"Aang said that Avatar Yangchen was telling him about some giant spirit general," Sokka supplied,

"Spirits have armies?" She asked him and he only shrugged.

"Come on, let's focus on getting you patched up." He said with a hand on her good, or at least currently not bloody, shoulder as he led her away.

The two of them went and sat under a tree and Sokka moved to Azula's side. He had already gotten some water and a rag from Katara the moment he got back; he knew he would need it. Thankfully Azula's shirt fastened around her neck and left the skin of her shoulder blade exposed. Once he cleaned away the dried blood he found that the wound itself wasn't really bad at all. That being said he still bandaged it anyway to keep it from getting infected.

"Not bad," Azula said once her friend was done. "Much better than the last time you patched me up." She teased and Sokka shot her an annoyed glare.

"Well if you remember last time was a lot more awkward." He defended and she only rolled her eyes.

"Fair enough," She said as the two of them stood up, looking to the sky when they felt water falling against their skin.

"Looks like a storm," Sokka mused, noticing the dark clouds rolling in and the wind picking up.

"Not just any storm," Aang said darkly, suddenly landing in front of the two as Katara approached from behind him.

"Were you able to get through to Yangchen?" She asked,

"Yeah, I don't have time to explain right now but we have to rebury all of this iron and evacuate the town." He explained as best he could and his friends nodded.

"We'll take care of that, you and Toph's students handle the iron." Katara said but that's when Aang noticed that something was missing.

"Where's the giant mask?" He asked and just then Satoru drove up on the forklift.

"I saw my uncle and some Rough Rhinos dragging it down to the beach," he informed the group and for a brief moment the usually peaceful Avatar looked as though he wanted to kill Satoru, or his greedy uncle anyway.

"We need that back here," he settled on seething.

"I'm on it," Satoru complied.

"Me too!" Sokka announced, hurrying onto the forklift.

"You just want to ride the forklift," Azula mocked as the two boys sped off.

"Bye!" Sokka called over his shoulder.

With a roll of her eyes Azula turned and followed Katara into the town where they started evacuating citizens. Once that was done (and it would've gone a lot faster if it didn't take both the girls ten minutes of combined efforts to evacuate one very stubborn cabbage merchant) Aang set to work appeasing the soon to attack spirit general, a plan that unfortunately called for the refinery and town to be demolished. However before he could do much damage Toph woke up and as soon as she heard what was happening she and her students charged into the town and began fighting against Aang. To be honest Azula wasn't sure whose side to take; ordinarily she would take Toph's side and she was inclined to do so, but Aang doesn't have a violent bone in his body so when he says that there is no other way she wants to believe him. But in all honesty she can't. There has to be another way, if she learned anything from falling off that airship it's that there always is. But she didn't have time to think on it, because right then Aang's giant spirit made an appearance; and giant was by no means an exaggeration.

The spirit looked like a glowing man dressed head to toe in battle armor, and not even the tallest of the humans came up to his knee in height. But what Azula took notice of the most the rope hanging from a tooth on his mask where Satoru, his uncle, and Sokka were dangling.

"Sokka!" Katara gasped and Azula started seeing red. Thankfully, Katara was quick to create a giant water funnel and get the three down.

"You know, I don't think water slides are any less terrifying than Toph's dirt slides." He coughed as Azula pulled him to his feet.

"I have half a mind to slap you for scaring me like that," she reprimanded and Sokka chuckled.

"Now you know how I feel," he said but before that could be elaborated on the spirit, or General Old Iron as Aang was now calling him, announced that it's high time he wiped humans from existence.

"Are there ANY spirits who don't hate humans?" Azula questioned as she stared up at the attacker.

"Not sure," Sokka answered,

"Will you two quit standing around and help us-" but Katara didn't get to finish, there was an explosion of all four elements and then General Old Iron was on the ground.

Time seemed to freeze.

The General soon got up, but he only walked away from the city and into the ocean from whence he came, Aang frantically following him the entire way. Then streams of purple and white lights came soaring from the water beyond the town's border, and everyone knew why.

"Aang," Sokka finally said, unable to believe what he had just witnessed.

"Don't blame him," It was Toph's voice that spoke up from behind him and he, along with many of the others, turned to see the blind girl with tears running down her face. "General Old Iron was about to kill us, Aang saved us." She explained and with that she took off running down to the beach.

* * *

"How's he doing?" Azula asked Sokka as the sun came up and the world seemed to finally start turning again. Toph was over talking with her father, he had just given the workers some speech about staying and rebuilding, and it was good to see the two have made up.

Aang on the other hand is another story.

"Confused but he'll get through it," Sokka answered, watching as his troubled friend headed off with his sister, away from all the crowds. "How are you doing?" He asked and so with a sigh Azula took a seat next to him.

"I could ask you the same question, even with Katara's bending slowing you down you fell from pretty high." She reminded him but he just waved it off.

"I'm fine, not even a scratch." He boasted and Azula rolled her eyes.

"Yippee for you," she said, very unenthusiastically. "Thank you," she finally said and Sokka looked quizzically at her. "For looking out for me," she explained and Sokka just shrugged.

"I keep telling you, we're friends. I'm always-"

"We weren't always," she interrupted and he abruptly shut his mouth. "I did a lot of terrible things to you and I'm not stupid, I know you weren't exactly thrilled when Zuko saved me." She began,

"Hey I wasn't terrible," He tried to defend but Azula just gave him a deadpan look.

"You wanted to blind me," she reminded and he had no argument for that. "But you also put up with being forced to be the one to drag me through town, you patched me up after I was first attacked, or you tried to anyway. You helped convince me to reconsider my life, you helped me after I fried myself with lightning, and most importantly you stopped me from killing my mother. So, thank you." She said again and out of all the things she expected Sokka to do, she didn't expect him to sigh.

"Ok, look I know you've been through a lot in the past year and you're still figuring everything out but I can promise you that I'm always going to be here for you, no matter what." He said and now it was her turn to sigh.

"That's a pretty big promise," she warned.

"I know," he said, instinctively grabbing her hand, "But I mean it," he said and only now did he realized that she hadn't pulled her hand away, but instead lightly gripped his back in response.

"Then let me promise that I'll be here for you, no matter what." She bargained,

"You don't-"

"I want to," she told him firmly, and she did. For the first time in so long she actually knew what she wanted, and it felt great. But great as it felt, it felt even better when a smile spread across Sokka's face.

"Ok."

* * *

"Meat kabobs! Get your meat kabobs here! Just like a shish kabob except without everything you don't like!" Sokka shouted three months later while he tried to sell what he claimed to be a brilliant idea.

The gang had spent the last three months here in the town in order to help rebuild both it and the refinery. The repairs had gone well and so to celebrate, and honor the spirits after everything that has gone on, the town was putting on a festival. They were calling it The Spirits' Friendship Festival and so far it was the exact opposite of Aang's traditionally solemn celebration that he had been so insistent upon three months earlier, but the Avatar was actually appearing to embrace the change.

"Meat kabobs?" Azula mocked as she came and stood besides Sokka.

"Yup!" He exclaimed happily and with a smile she just rolled her eyes, "Come on, you know you love me." He teased.

"For what reason I will never understand," she mocked and with that Sokka leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Tease," she taunted when he pulled away and before he could respond with some kind of remark she had her arms loosely around his neck, she felt his hands grabbing at her waist, and she got up on her toes to kiss him on the lips.

"Whatever happened to that oogie thing he yells at us for?" Katara asked Aang when she noticed the couple all but making out off to the side.

"Leave them alone for now," he laughed as they continued down the festive street, his arm around her.

As they walked away he couldn't help but glance back at their friends, who by now had pulled out of their moment and gone back to talking. Probably one of their usual playful arguments, and Sokka's arms was still around Azula. Aang smiled at this; he never could've predicted it but turns out that they bring out the best in each other.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys, thanks so much for reading and for all the great reviews that were left! They really have meant the world to me! Just a note for anyone who didn't know, these last few chapters were set during The Search and The Rift comics. Also, i'm really sorry there was such a** **delay in getting this chapter up! Easter weekend was busy for me and i didn't have the time, this was supposed to be posted last night but then some jerk in my building pulled the fire alarm and it was almost 1 a.m. by the time they let us back in. So sorry for the delay, but thanks so much for reading and reviewing, you guys are awesome!**


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